Summary
- Bacterial infection with bacilliformis
- Occurs only in certain areas of South America
- Transmission via sandflies of the genus Lutzomyia
- Treatment with ciprofloxacin or chloramphenicol
- Acute disease: febrile haemolytic anaemia, hepatosplenomegaly, lymphadenopathy, bleeding
- Chronic disease leads to chronic angiomatous skin lesions
General
The genus Bartonella currently contains 19 species of bacteria which infect erythrocytes of vertebrate hosts. It is expected that new species will be identified in the future.
In 1992, the Bartonella genus consisted of a single species but by 2007, this had increased to 19 officially recognised species. At present, humans are the sole reservoir for only two species: B. quintana and B. bacilliformis. Exceptionally, infections with other Bartonella species occur and result in bacteraemia or endocarditis (B. elizabethiae, B. clarridgeiae, B. vinsonii vinsonii, B. vinsonii arupensis and B. vinsonii berkhoffii). In 2007, a newly recognized Bartonella species was isolated from a patient with bacteraemia. It grew slowly in BACTEC bottles (blood culture bottles) could not been visualised with Gram staining but stained with acridine-orange. The proposed name is B. rochalimae. The infected patient had recently travelled to Peru where she visited places in the Andes mountains. It is possible that some cases of Oroya fever are actually due to infection with this new bacterium.
| Bartonella baciliformis | Oroya fever, verruga peruviana, asymptomatic carriers |
| Bartonella quitana | Trench fever, bacillary angiomatisis, endocarditis, chronic bacteraemie |
| Bartonella henselae | Cat-scratch disease, bacillary angiomatosis, visceral peliosis, endocarditis, septicaemia |
| Bartonella clarridgeiae | Cat-scratch disease (rare) |
| Bartonella elizabthea | Endocarditis |
| Bartonella washoensis | Cardiac disease |
| Bartonella grahamii | Neurorentinitis |
| Bartonella vinsonii | Endocarditis, fever and neurological disease |