Cats as a reservoir of Bartonella henselae for dogs.

Abstract

Bartonellosis is a disease affecting a variety of animals. Manyinfections are zoonotic, including cat scratch disease. Within the genusare 45 species, of which more than 10 can infect cats and dogs. Companion animals serve as reservoirs for several zoonotic species of, and may also serve as sentinels for zoonoticspecies harbored by wildlife. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of the occurrence ofspp. DNA in dogs from households where cats with clinical bartonellosis were kept. The presence of DNA with 99-100% compliance of the nucleotide sequence with the sequence of theDNA isolated from cats was demonstrated in the body of 10% of tested dogs. The results indicate that cats serve as areservoir for dogs, and the dogs can play the same role with regard to humans.