title: A serological investigation of Bartonella henselae infection in cats in Turkey.
abstract: Bartonella henselae is the causative agent of cat scratch disease (CSD) in humans. Cats are the main reservoir of this bacterium and may infect humans through scratches and bites. The purpose of this study was to determine the B. henselae seroprevalence in cats in Turkey. A total of 298 cats blood samples were collected from six different provinces of Turkey. Sera were tested for the presence of anti-B. henselae IgG antibodies by indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFA). The seroprevalence of B. henselae was 27.9% (83/298) for the cats examined in this study. The seroprevalence of cats by province was significantly higher in Bursa (41.3%), Adana (33.9%), Aydin (27.5%) and Burdur (32.3%) than in Kayseri (17.9%) and Istanbul (12.5%). Statistically significant differences were not observed between cat sexes and living conditions of cats. The results revealed that B. henselae is an important zoonotic pathogen in Turkey.
authors: Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary, University of Ondokuz Mayis, Samsun, Turkey. muratguzel05@gmail.com
authors: Murat
authors: M
authors: Guzel
authors: Bekir
authors: B
authors: Celebi
authors: Ebru
authors: E
authors: Yalcin
authors: Lora
authors: L
authors: Koenhemsi
authors: Nuri
authors: N
authors: Mamak
authors: Serdar
authors: S
authors: Pasa
authors: Oznur
authors: O
authors: Aslan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D001474:Bartonella Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D018416:Bartonella henselae / Q000276:immunology*; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002415:Cats; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial