title: Bartonella henselae and Bartonella clarridgeiae infection in domestic cats from The Philippines.
abstract: One hundred seven domestic cats from The Philippines were serologically tested to establish the prevalence of Bartonella infection. A subset of 31 of these cats also had whole blood collected to tentatively isolate Bartonella strains. Bartonella henselae and B. clarridgeiae were isolated from 19 (61%) of these cats. Bartonella henselae type I was isolated from 17 (89%) of the 19 culture-positive cats. Six cats (31%) were infected with B. clarridgeiae, of which four were coinfected with B. henselae. Sixty-eight percent (73 of 107) and 65% (70 of 107) of the cats had antibodies to B. henselae and B. clarridgeiae, respectively, detected by an immunofluorescence antibody (IFA) test at a titer > or = 1:64. When tested by enzyme immunoassay (EIA), 67 cats (62.6%) had antibodies to B. henselae and 71 cats (66.4%) had antibodies to B. clarridgeiae. Compared with the IFA test, the B. henselae EIA had a sensitivity of 90.4% and a specificity of 97%, with positive and negative predictive values of 98.5% and 82.5%, respectively. Similarly, the B. clarridgeiae EIA had a sensitivity of 97% and a specificity of 92% specificity, with positive and negative predictive values of 95.8% and 94.4%, respectively. The presence of antibodies to Bartonella was strongly associated with flea infestation. Domestic cats represent a large reservoir of Bartonella infection in the Philippines.
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis 95616, USA.
authors.forename: B B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Chomel
authors.forename: E T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Carlos
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Kasten
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Carlos
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Abenes
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Pajares
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D001473:Bartonella / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001474:Bartonella Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D018416:Bartonella henselae / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D002415:Cats; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D010679:Philippines / Q000453:epidemiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D004269:DNA, Bacterial