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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 2001, p. 3548-3554, Vol. 39, No. 10
Department of Population Health and
Reproduction,1 Cardiology Unit,
Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital and Department of Medicine and
Epidemiology,2 and Center for Companion
Animal Health,3 School of Veterinary
Medicine, University of California, Davis, California 95616
Received 20 February 2001/Returned for modification 8 May
2001/Accepted 29 May 2001
We report the first documented case of endocarditis associated with
Bartonella clarridgeiae in any species. B.
clarridgeiae was identified as a possible etiological agent of
human cat scratch disease. Infective vegetative valvular aortic
endocarditis was diagnosed in a 2.5-year-old male neutered boxer.
Historically, the dog had been diagnosed with a systolic murmur at 16 months of age and underwent balloon valvuloplasty for severe valvular aortic stenosis. Six months later, the dog was brought to a veterinary hospital with an acute third-degree atrioventricular block and was
diagnosed with infective endocarditis. The dog died of cardiopulmonary arrest prior to pacemaker implantation. Necropsy confirmed severe aortic vegetative endocarditis. Blood culture grew a fastidious, gram-negative organism 8 days after being plated. Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of the isolate, including partial sequencing of the citrate synthase (gltA) and 16S rRNA genes
indicated that this organism was B. clarridgeiae. DNA
extraction from the deformed aortic valve and the healthy pulmonic
valve revealed the presence of B. clarridgeiae DNA only
from the diseased valve. No Borrelia burgdorferi or
Ehrlichia sp. DNA could be identified. Using indirect immunofluorescence tests, the dog was seropositive for B.
clarridgeiae and had antibodies against Ehrlichia
phagocytophila but not against Ehrlichia canis,
Ehrlichia ewingii, B. burgdorferi, or
Coxiella burnetii.
0095-1137/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JCM.39.10.3548-3554.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Aortic Valve Endocarditis in a Dog Due to Bartonella
clarridgeiae
*
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.
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