JCM Figure table search 04
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Chang, C.-C.
Right arrow Articles by Breitschwerdt, E. B.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Chang, C.-C.
Right arrow Articles by Breitschwerdt, E. B.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, November 2000, p. 4193-4200, Vol. 38, No. 11
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Coyotes (Canis latrans) as the Reservoir for a Human Pathogenic Bartonella sp.: Molecular Epidemiology of Bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii Infection in Coyotes from Central Coastal California

Chao-Chin Chang,1 Rickie W. Kasten,1 Bruno B. Chomel,1,* Darren C. Simpson,2 Carrie M. Hew,1 Dorsey L. Kordick,3 Remy Heller,4 Yves Piemont,4 and Edward B. Breitschwerdt3

Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, California 956161; Wildlife Unit, Vector Control Section, Santa Clara County Department of Health Services, San Jose, California 951262; Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 276063; and Institut de Bactériologie, Université L. Pasteur, Hôpitaux Universitaires, 67000 Strasbourg, France4

Received 6 March 2000/Returned for modification 27 July 2000/Accepted 8 September 2000

Bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii was originally isolated from a dog suffering infectious endocarditis and was recently identified as a zoonotic agent causing human endocarditis. Following the coyote bite of a child who developed clinical signs compatible with Bartonella infection in Santa Clara County, Calif., this epidemiological study was conducted. Among 109 coyotes (Canis latrans) from central coastal California, 31 animals (28%) were found to be bacteremic with B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii and 83 animals (76%) had B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii antibodies. These findings suggest these animals could be the wildlife reservoir of B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii. PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis of the gltA and 16S rRNA genes for these 31 isolates yielded similar profiles that were identical to those of B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii. Partial sequencing of the gltA and 16S rRNA genes, respectively, indicated 99.5 and 100% homology between the coyote isolate and B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii (ATCC 51672). PCR-RFLP analysis of the 16S-23S intergenic spacer region showed the existence of two different strain profiles, as has been reported in dogs. Six (19%) of 31 Bartonella bacteremic coyotes exhibited the strain profile that was identified in the type strain of a canine endocarditis case (B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii ATCC 51672). The other 25 bacteremic coyotes were infected with a strain that was similar to the strains isolated from healthy dogs. Based on whole bacterial genome analysis by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) with SmaI restriction endonuclease, there was more diversity in fingerprints for the coyote isolates, which had at least 10 major variants compared to the two variants described for domestic dog isolates from the eastern United States. By PFGE analysis, three Bartonella bacteremic coyotes were infected by a strain identical to the one isolated from three healthy dog carriers. Further studies are necessary to elucidate the mode of transmission of B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii, especially to identify potential vectors, and to determine how humans become infected.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616. Phone: (530) 752-8112. Fax: (530) 752-2377. E-mail: bbchomel{at}ucdavis.edu.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, November 2000, p. 4193-4200, Vol. 38, No. 11
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. Clin. Microbiol. Rev.
Clin. Vaccine Immunol. ALL ASM JOURNALS

Copyright © 2000 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.