Bartonella henselae

Have you ever been bitten, licked or scratched by a cat or kitten? Most of you probably have, but did you know that approximately 10% of household cats, and 33% of stray cats carry a type of bacteria called Bartonella henselae (1). Bartonella henselae is a gram negative bacteria that can cause cat scratch disease (CSD), which can be transferred to a person, mostly young children, who have been either bitten, licked or scratched by a cat. B. henselae lives in infected cats’ saliva and is usually spread by fleas from cat to cat (2). Primary inoculation occurs within one to two weeks of the initial bite, lick or scratch resulting in swelling of the infected area. Blisters or bumps are usually the first sign that a person has been infected by…

if you do own a feline as a pet. These important aspects would include the microorganism that causes it, how it’s transmitted, its pathogenic factors, symptoms, as well as current treatments for this disease. This disease is transmitted by a bacterium that belongs to the genus Bartonella, which contains nearly twenty different species that are transferred to other organisms via vectors such as fleas, ticks, or lice. The species…

Introduction Cat scratch disease is an infection caused by the bacterium Bartonella henselae. As the name of the disease implies, it is associated with a scratch from an infected cat but is also transmitted through a cat bite and, in some instances, cat fleas (Forbes, 2007). The formation of a papule at the site of the bite or scratch is the initial symptom followed by lymphadenopathy. One of the most common causes of chronic lymphadenopathy in children and adolescents is cat scratch disease…