What is a Bartonella doshiae pathogen?
The Bartonella doshiae pathogen is a bacterium and can trigger diseases in animals . This mainly affects small mammals such as rats, but also mice, in which the Bartonella doshiae pathogen could be detected . Bartonella doshiae is a pathogen from the genus Bartonella bacteria, which can be described histologically as a gram-negative rod bacterium. The pathogen was named after Nivedita Doshi, whose technical skills were central to the work on Bartonella at the "Central Public Health Laboratory" of .
How was the Bartonella doshiae pathogen detected?
The Bartonella doshiae pathogen has so far been detected in small mammals . More than 50 different flea species, which could be isolated from the small animals, serve as vectors in the Bartonella disease transmission. However, there is still plenty of research to be done on this . There are only four reports on small mammal fleas from Germany from the last century. Studies on the prevalence and species diversity of Bartonella pathogens in rodents, especially their parasitic flea species, are a rarity in Germany.
How is the Bartonella doshiae pathogen diagnosed?
The diagnosis of the Bartonella doshiae pathogen does not differ greatly from the isolation of other Bartonella species in the diagnostic procedure. The diagnosis can be made as follows:
- by DNA extraction:The DNA is extracted from the small mammals as well as the fleas that could be collected from the small mammals. For this one can use the QIAamp DNA Mini Kit. In order not to falsify the diagnostic result both the quality and the quantity of the extracted DNA samples are measured spectrophotometrically. If a DNA sample exceeded a concentration of 40 ng/?l, it was additionally diluted with elution buffer.
- by polymerase chain reaction and sequence analysis (PCR):By a conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the DNA samples are tested for the presence of Bartonella pathogens.
The
Bartonella species detected in the small mammals were almost identical to
those of the fleas. This suggests that
Bartonella pathogens can persist independently of a small mammal host in
flea populations. However, should some of these
flea species seek out domestic animals such as dogs or cats as hosts, they can serve
as direct vectors of zoonotic pathogens and thus also
pose a health threat to humans. With regard to the
Bartonella doshiae pathogen, however, a danger to humans has not yet been proven
.
In which rodents does the Bartonella doshiae pathogen occur?
Wild rodents are not only an important reservoir host for the Bartonella doshiae pathogen. The same is known to be true for various other pathogens. In one study, a total of fifteen different Bartonella species, including the B. doshiae could be isolated from various rodents. Bartonella birtlesii, B. elizabethae , B. grahamii as well as B. washoensis pathogens are also known to cause human diseases.
Rodents in particular from the Asian region are considered to be carriers of Bartonella infections. There are reports of Bartonella infections in rodent populations from China, Japan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. In most of the rodent populations investigated , Bartonella pathogens were also detected. Of these, 47 per cent of all cases were reported from China alone. Various rat species could be diagnosed as severely infected. Among them was the domestic rat Rattus tanezumi (R. tanezumi). In addition to rats, the bacterium was also detected in the following different genera :
- Wood mice (Apodemus),
- Père David voles, or David voles (Eothenomys),
- Red-backed voles (Myodes)
Whether
and which Bartonella pathogens are also found in bats is still largely unexplored at
. There are only a few studies regarding
the spread of Bartonella in bats. These studies have been published from
Asia. Elsewhere, some
diagnostic procedures have already demonstrated that some bats
were infected with Bartonella species. So far, there is one report from
Taiwan describing Bartonella infection in bats.
How widespread are the Bartonella pathogens?
Bartonella pathogens tend to be localised and have not spread over a large area after their initial isolation. This is partly due to the necessary vectors, which, like sandflies, for example, only have a limited geographical range. In Central Europe, the cat disease, which can be transmitted to humans by Bartonella pathogens , plays an above-average role. However, this disease also occurs rather rarely and tends to be associated with non-specific symptoms that do not always indicate a Bartonella infection.
What are the current research priorities with regard to Bartonella pathogens?
As before, new Bartonella species are constantly being described. Through this epidemiological gaps can increasingly be closed and valuable information on the course of infection can be gained. It is above all the complex and time-consuming cultivation of Bartonella pathogens that makes research so difficult. The zoonotic potential of many Bartonella pathogens has therefore not yet been adequately researched. It is also not yet sufficiently clear how exactly the Bartonella pathogens infect the red blood cells (erythrocytes) of the host and how the erythrocytes change physiologically during the infection .
What should be the focus of Bartonella research in the future?
Both human and veterinary doctors should be aware of the risk factors of Bartonella infections and focus more on the best-known endemic Bartonella species, such as B. henselae and B. quintana. Since there are usually various clinical symptoms, a Bartonella infection in humans is diagnosed rather late. However, the impact of Bartonella bacteria might be more significant than currently assumed due to the complex clinical manifestations.