title: Bartonella spp. in cats from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
abstract: In Argentina, data on the presence of members of the genus Bartonella is scarce. To increase knowledge about these zoonotic pathogens in this country, the presence and variability of Bartonella spp. was investigated in cats and dogs from Buenos Aires. Bartonella spp. was detected in 17.8% of cats, while all dogs tested negative by PCR and Reverse Line Blot. B. henselae was the most frequent species, being detected in 11.9% (14/101), while B. clarridgeiae was found in only 5.9% (6/101) of the cats. Afterwards, B. henselae isolates and positive blood samples were characterized by Multiple Locus Sequence Typing (MLST) and Multiple Locus Variable Number Tandem Repeats Analysis (MLVA). As result, four different MLST sequence types (ST) and eight MLVA profiles were identified. ST 1 was the most frequent variant found in cats, followed by ST 8. Interestingly, some of the MLVA profiles that were detected in this study have been previously associated with human disease, and represents a potential risk of infection. Veterinarians and physicians should consider the presence of these emerging pathogens in their diagnostic routine.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Zoonosis Luis Pasteur, Buenos Aires, Av. Díaz Vélez 4821, C1405DCD, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Gabriel L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Cicuttin
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Zoonosis Luis Pasteur, Buenos Aires, Av. Díaz Vélez 4821, C1405DCD, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Diego F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Brambati
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Zoonosis Luis Pasteur, Buenos Aires, Av. Díaz Vélez 4821, C1405DCD, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: María F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: De Gennaro
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Zoonosis Luis Pasteur, Buenos Aires, Av. Díaz Vélez 4821, C1405DCD, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Carmona
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Zoonosis Luis Pasteur, Buenos Aires, Av. Díaz Vélez 4821, C1405DCD, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: María L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Isturiz
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Zoonosis Luis Pasteur, Buenos Aires, Av. Díaz Vélez 4821, C1405DCD, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Laura E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Pujol
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Zoonosis Luis Pasteur, Buenos Aires, Av. Díaz Vélez 4821, C1405DCD, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Guillermo C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Belerenian
authors.affiliation: Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ctra/Majadahonda-Pozuelo Km 2,5, Majadahonda 28220, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: hgil@isciii.es.
authors.forename: Horacio
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gil
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001118:Argentina; D001473:Bartonella / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D001474:Bartonella Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D002415:Cats; D004285:Dogs; D018598:Minisatellite Repeats; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary
keywords: Argentina; Bartonella henselae; Cat; MLST; MLVA