Bartonella henselae in porpoise blood

• Published in: Emerging infectious diseases Vol. 11; no. 12; pp. 1894 - 1898
• Main Authors: Maggi, Ricardo G, Harms, Craig A, Hohn, Aleta A, Pabst, D Ann, McLellan, William A, Walton, Wendy J, Rotstein, David S, Breitschwerdt, Edward B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States U.S. National Center for Infectious Diseases 01.12.2005; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Subjects: Animals; Bartonella; Bartonella henselae - genetics; Bartonella henselae - isolation & purification; cetacean; Diagnosis; emerging; Health aspects; North Carolina; Phocoena - blood; Phocoena - microbiology; porpoise; Porpoises; stranded; Verruga peruana; North Carolina
• ISSN: 1080-6040; 1080-6059
• DOI: 10.3201/eid1112.050969

We report detection of Bartonella henselae DNA in blood samples from 2 harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena). By using real-time polymerase chain reaction, we directly amplified Bartonella species DNA from blood of a harbor porpoise stranded along the northern North Carolina coast and from a pre-enrichment blood culture from a second harbor porpoise. The second porpoise was captured out of habitat (in a low-salinity canal along the northern North Carolina coast) and relocated back into the ocean. Subsequently, DNA was amplified by conventional polymerase chain reaction for DNA sequencing. The 16S-23S intergenic transcribed spacer region obtained from each porpoise was 99.8% similar to that of B. henselae strain San Antonio 2 (SA2), whereas both heme-binding phage-associated pap31 gene sequences were 100% homologous to that of B. henselae SA2. Currently, the geographic distribution, mode of transmission, reservoir potential, and pathogenicity of bloodborne Bartonella species in porpoises have not been determined.