Dogs are more permissive than cats or guinea pigs  to experimental infection with a human isolate  of Bartonella rochalimae.
Bartonella rochalimae was first isolated from the blood of a human who traveled to Peru and was exposed to multiple insect bites. Foxes and dogs are likely natural reservoirs for this bacterium. We report the results of experimental inoculation of two dogs, five cats and six guinea pigs with the only human isolate of this new Bartonella species. Both dogs became bacteremic for 5-7 weeks, with a peak of 10(3)-10(4) colony forming units (CFU)/mL blood. Three cats had low bacteremia levels (< 200 CFU/mL) of 6-8 weeks' duration. One cat that remained seronegative had two bacterial colonies isolated at a single culture time point. A fifth cat never became bacteremic, but seroconverted. None of the guinea pigs became bacteremic, but five seroconverted. These results suggest that dogs could be a reservoir of this strain of B. rochalimae, in contrast to cats and guinea pigs.
Chomel
Bruno B
BB
Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine,University of California, Davis, CA, USA. bbchomel@ucdavis.edu
Henn
Jennifer B
JB
Kasten
Rickie W
RW
Nieto
Nathan C
NC
Foley
Janet
J
Papageorgiou
Sophia
S
Allen
Claire
C
Koehler
Jane E
JE
D000818:Animals; D001473:Bartonella / Q000145:classification*; D001474:Bartonella Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D002415:Cats; D004198:Disease Susceptibility / Q000662:veterinary; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013997:Time Factors