Detection and genetic diversity of Bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii strains isolated from dogs in Ankara, Turkey.
Bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii has been identified as an important pathogen in dogs and is an emerging pathogen in people with zoonotic potential. This study aimed to isolate Bartonella spp. in 250 blood samples collected from dogs in the province of Ankara, Turkey, between October 2006 and March 2007. The typing of the 23 isolates was carried out by PCR for citrate synthase (gltA) and the 16S-23S intergenic transcribed spacer (ITS). The prevalence of bacteremia was 9.2% in 250 samples. Among 170 shelter dogs, 21 (12.4%) were bacteremic for B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii, while the B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii bacteremia rate was 5% (2/40) for the stray dogs. B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii was not isolated from the pet dogs. The prevalence of bacteremia was found to be 25.5% (13/51) in shelter dogs aged less than one year old. All of the isolates were identified as B.vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii genotype III. In some isolates, MseI digest for gltA was found to be different from the American and European strains due to a single nucleotide change.
Department of Communicable Diseases Research, Refik Saydam National Public Health Agency, Ankara, Turkey. bekir.celebi@rshm.gov.tr
Bekir
B
Celebi
Ahmet
A
Carhan
Selcuk
S
Kilic
Cahit
C
Babur
D000818:Animals; D001473:Bartonella / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001474:Bartonella Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000662:veterinary*; D001483:Base Sequence; D021901:DNA, Intergenic; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000382:microbiology*; D004285:Dogs; D014644:Genetic Variation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D014421:Turkey
D021901:DNA, Intergenic