Bartonellosis is an infectious bacterial disease, caused by the gram - negative bacteria
Bartonella henselae.
When assessing clinically ill cats
for Bartonella species infection, Dr. Lappin suggests the combination of serologic testing and PCR assay are more accurate than either alone.
Ticks can transmit infections like Lyme disease, and fleas can transmit tapeworms and
Bartonella bacteria.
Importantly, we continue to investigate the medical importance of
Bartonella infection for human and animal medicine with research collaborators at leading research institutions.
Fleas are the main cause of transmission
of Bartonella henselae, the bacteria that causes cat scratch disease.
However, the antibiotic of choice as well as the duration of treatment have not been clearly established for
Bartonella species infection in humans, dogs or cats.
Cats become infected
with Bartonella Henselae by a flea bite or flea dirt (flea poop) getting into an open wound.
Cat scratch disease (CSD), also known as cat scratch fever, is a bacterial infection in humans that is can occur when a bite or scratch from a cat breaks skin and introduces a bacteria
called Bartonella henselae into the tissue.
Another flea - spread disease that affects both cats and dogs is caused
by Bartonella henselae bacteria.
While it's difficult to detect
Bartonella in animals and humans, a doctor can obtain a blood culture to confirm the diagnosis.
She treats tick - borne diseases and related conditions including infections
from Bartonella, Babesia, Anaplasma, Erilichia, Rickettsia, Parasites, Mold, Marcons and viruses.
Cats and kittens that are hosts of
Bartonella Henselae do not show any outward signs so it is not obvious which cats can spread cat scratch disease.
The challenges of diagnosis are especially problematic
as Bartonella species are slow growing and extremely difficult to culture, and PCR amplification (microbial DNA amplified from blood) and detection of antibodies have diagnostic limitations.
Recent advances in diagnostic techniques have facilitated documentation of chronic bloodstream infections with
Bartonella spp. in healthy and sick animals, and in immunocompetent and immunocompromised human patients with cardiovascular, neurologic, and rheumatologic symptoms.
Some cats just don't produce enough antibodies
against bartonella for the first four tests to be positive.
It can cause heart problems in dogs, though most cats infected with
Bartonella do not get sick at all.
co-infection treatments described in
Kills Bartonella: A Brief Guide or Kills Babesia: A Brief Guide if symptoms of these recur or continue.
The
genus Bartonella contains many species that can induce chronic infections in humans and other animals.
In theory, humans may come into contact with
Bartonella when bitten by a vector insect.
Some cats with this disease run a fever for two to three days after they first
catch Bartonella.
Because he had been a stray cat prior to his time in the shelter and likely exposed to fleas, he was at high risk for infection with
Feline Bartonella.
When both are present my preference is to treat for
bartonella first for 2 - 3 months and then add treatment for babesia.
Prior to 1990, there was only one
named Bartonella species (B. bacilliformis), where there are now over 36 species of which 17 have been associated with an expanding spectrum of disease in dog and human patients.
Jane E. Koehler, M.D. University of California - San Francisco School of Medicine Genomic and clinical correlates of
human Bartonella quintana infection
Some bacteria,
like Bartonella henselae, can be transmitted from fleas or cat bites.
There is no vaccine to
prevent Bartonella henselae from infecting your cat, but with careful preventative measures, there is an excellent chance that you will not need to suffer the consequences of this bug.
About 40 % of cats
carry Bartonella henselae at some time in their lives but you can not tell a cat as a carrier from an uninfected cat.
The test we use to
detect Bartonella only requires a few drops of blood and the results are usually available to us in 10 days.
Our cats are
bartonella negative and ringworm free, and our kittens are guaranteed free from internal and external parasites at the time of sale.
Current canine research is looking
at Bartonella and association with hemangiosarcoma, hopefully soon to be studied.
This course includes the following modules: Lyme Disease
Babesia Bartonella Ehrlichiosis / Anaplasmosis Rickettsia Mycoplasma Chlamydia Protomyxzoa rheumatica All Types of Viruses Infection Connection Blood Analysis -LSB-...]
If you do not have improvement in
bartonella symptoms by 2 months then change to prescription medicines.
Many of the tick - borne infections that tend to persist — we've
got Bartonella, Babesia, Ehrlichia, Anaplasmosis, Brucella, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Mycoplasma — competitively inhibit each other.
Boost the Immune System and Decrease Inflammation It is critical for
bartonella recovery to take steps...
Immunosuppressed people - cancer patients, transplant recipients and the elderly over 65 are more susceptible to develop
severe Bartonella diseases.
A two - to four-fold decrease in the antibody titer between the pre - and post-therapy samples indicates
successful Bartonella treatment.
Because Bartonella are able to induce persistent infections in the host while evoking minimal immunologic recognition, it's difficult to establish a cause - and - effect relationship between this highly adapted bacteria and a diverse spectrum of disease manifestations.
Exposure to fleas and flea feces is believed to be the most important factor for transmission of
Bartonella between cats.
Most dogs with
clinical Bartonella infection have multiple clinical signs attributed to more than one organ system.
Fleas play host to a variety of infectious organisms, including bacteria, viruses, and parasites;
Bartonella felis (the bacteria that causes cat scratch fever), Enterovirus (one of the causative agents of viral meningitis), Cestodes (tapeworm), and others.