Canine Bartonellosis: an Emerging Infectious Disease

INTRODUCTION Bartonella species are fastidious gram-negative bacteria that are highly adapted to a mammalian reservoir host and within which the bacteria usually cause a long-lasting intraerythrocytic bacteremia.1,2 In the natural host, chronic bacteremia with a Bartonella species can frequently be detected by culture or PCR in seemingly healthy individuals. Until recently, mechanisms that facilitate persistent Bartonella bacteremia in mammals were not well understood. Recent reports have identified an intra-endothelial and intraerythrocytic localization for these bacteria, which represents a unique strategy for bacterial persistence.1-6 Non-hemolytic intracellular colonization of erythrocytes and endothelial cells would preserve the organisms for efficient vector transmission, protect Bartonella from the host immune response, and potentially contribute to decreased antimicrobial efficacy.3