title: Identification of Bartonella henselae in 2 cats with pyogranulomatous myocarditis and diaphragmatic myositis.
abstract: Most cats infected with Bartonella henselae remain outwardly healthy carriers for years; however, self-limiting fever, transient anemia, neurologic dysfunction, lymphadenopathy, reproductive disorders, aortic valvular endocarditis, and neutrophilic myocarditis have been described in experimentally or naturally infected cats. Two cats in a North Carolina shelter died with pyogranulomatous myocarditis and diaphragmatic myositis. Bacteria were visualized in the lesions by Warthin-Starry silver impregnation and by B. henselae immunohistochemistry. B. henselae DNA was amplified and sequenced from the heart of 1 cat and from multiple tissue samples, including heart and diaphragm, from the second cat. This study supports a potential association between B. henselae and what has been historically described as "transmissible myocarditis and diaphragmitis" of undetermined cause in cats.
authors.affiliation: Intracellular Pathogens Research Laboratory, Center for Comparative Medicine and Translational Research, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, 4700 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Varanat
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Broadhurst
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Linder
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Maggi
authors.forename: E B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Breitschwerdt
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001474:Bartonella Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D018416:Bartonella henselae; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D002415:Cats; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009205:Myocarditis / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D009220:Myositis / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*