Experimental model of human body louse infection using green fluorescent protein-expressing Bartonella quintana.
A laboratory colony of human body lice was experimentally infected by feeding on rabbits made artificially bacteremic with a green fluorescent protein-expressing Bartonella quintana. B. quintana was detected in the gut and feces until death but not in the eggs. The life span of the lice was not modified. The rabbit model should provide valuable clues to the role of lice in the transmission of B. quintana.
Fournier
P E
PE
Unité des rickettsies, CNRS:UPRESA 6020, Faculté de Médecine, Université de la Méditerranée, 13385 Marseille Cedex 05, France.
Minnick
M F
MF
Lepidi
H
H
Salvo
E
E
Raoult
D
D
D000818:Animals; D018413:Bartonella quintana / Q000254:growth & development*; D004064:Digestive System / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D008297:Male; D010374:Pediculus / Q000382:microbiology*; D011817:Rabbits
D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins