Bartonella henselae in porpoise blood.
We report detection of Bartonella henselae DNA in blood samples from 2 harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena). By using real-time polymerase chain reaction, we directly amplified Bartonella species DNA from blood of a harbor porpoise stranded along the northern North Carolina coast and from a pre-enrichment blood culture from a second harbor porpoise. The second porpoise was captured out of habitat (in a low-salinity canal along the northern North Carolina coast) and relocated back into the ocean. Subsequently, DNA was amplified by conventional polymerase chain reaction for DNA sequencing. The 16S-23S intergenic transcribed spacer region obtained from each porpoise was 99.8% similar to that of B. henselae strain San Antonio 2 (SA2), whereas both heme-binding phage-associated pap31 gene sequences were 100% homologous to that of B. henselae SA2. Currently, the geographic distribution, mode of transmission, reservoir potential, and pathogenicity of bloodborne Bartonella species in porpoises have not been determined.
Maggi
Ricardo G
RG
Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine, Raleigh, North Carolina 27606, USA.
Harms
Craig A
CA
Hohn
Aleta A
AA
Pabst
D Ann
DA
McLellan
William A
WA
Walton
Wendy J
WJ
Rotstein
David S
DS
Breitschwerdt
Edward B
EB
D000818:Animals; D018416:Bartonella henselae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009657:North Carolina; D050741:Phocoena / Q000097:blood* / Q000382:microbiology*