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Article: Bartonella quintana in domestic cat.(DISPATCHES)
- Article from:
- Emerging Infectious Diseases
- Article date:
- August 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 U.S. National Center for Infectious Diseases. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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We recovered Bartonella quintana DNA from dental pulp of a domestic cat. This study, the first to detect B. quintana in a nonhuman mammal, changes our understanding of the epidemiology of this infection and proposes that cats may be an emerging source of human infection.
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The [alpha]-proteobacterium Bartonella quintana is a fastidious, gram-negative organism; humans are the only known reservoir, and the human body louse, Pediculus humanus corporis, is the only known vector (1). Body lice infestation is linked to poor hygiene in homeless persons and persons engaged in war, as has been reported in several circumstances since trench fever was ...