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.
Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine, Raleigh, North Carolina 27606, USA.
Ricardo G
RG
Maggi
Craig A
CA
Harms
Aleta A
AA
Hohn
D Ann
DA
Pabst
William A
WA
McLellan
Wendy J
WJ
Walton
David S
DS
Rotstein
Edward B
EB
Breitschwerdt
D000818:Animals; D018416:Bartonella henselae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009657:North Carolina; D050741:Phocoena / Q000097:blood* / Q000382:microbiology*