Prospective studies of Bartonella of rodents. Part I. Demographic and temporal patterns in population dynamics.
The temporal dynamics of Bartonella infections in a rodent community were described by repeatedly capturing and sampling individual animals. Among six rodent species, from which bartonellae were isolated, cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus) accounted for > 98% of the bacteremic animals. All cotton rats captured four or more times were Bartonella-culture positive at least once. The lowest monthly prevalence of Bartonella in cotton rats was in June (49%) and the highest was in October (95%). Prevalence of Bartonella infection increased to > 90% among juvenile and subadult rats before declining to < 40% among the largest-oldest individuals. Bacteremia levels ranged between 40 and 4.0 x 10(6) colony forming units (CFU) per 1 mL of blood. Male cotton rats had significantly higher CFUs than females (p = 0.006). The median of Bartonella bacteremia decreased monotonically by age group among cotton rats. Although Bartonella infections were highly prevalent among cotton rats, only 8.5% of rats had reactive antibodies at titers of > or = 1:32 and none had antibodies titers of > 1:256.
Kosoy
Michael
M
Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, Colorado 80522, USA. mck3@cdc.gov
Mandel
Eric
E
Green
Douglas
D
Marston
Eric
E
Childs
James
J
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D001473:Bartonella / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001474:Bartonella Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect / Q000662:veterinary; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010542:Peromyscus / Q000382:microbiology; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D012621:Seasons; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D016205:Sigmodontinae / Q000382:microbiology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial