Bartonella and Lyme Borrelia are easily confused because they are both vector-borne bacteria with similar sounding names and frequently have complex, interrelated roles in chronic illnesses. Patients often believe Bartonella and Borrelia are the same before speaking to us, or they may mistake something they read online about one for the other. In this post, […]
Bats: Another Host for Bartonella?
Bats are among the most widely distributed mammals worldwide, often living in dense and diverse populations near suburban housing and camping sites. Their health relationship with people is complex and interdependent, illustrating the One Health concept. Bats help control harmful insects like mosquitoes. However, research suggests that they are a reservoir for novel pathogenic Bartonella […]
Dr. Ed Breitschwerdt’s Thoughts After the 9th Annual International Bartonella Conference
The International Conference on Bartonella as Emerging Pathogens is an annual 3-day meeting that provides researchers, physicians and veterinarians with updates on the latest Bartonella research from around the world. This year, 22 countries were represented at the National Veterinary School of Alfort in Paris, France from September 18th to September 20th. Galaxy Diagnostics was […]
How Do Bartonella Survive in Multiple Species? It’s In Their Genes
Bartonella species are vector-borne zoonotic bacteria. Let’s unpack that. “Vector-borne” means the bacteria can be transferred between hosts via a vector such as a flea. “Zoonotic” means that it can survive in an animal reservoir and then return to humans. The plus side for the Bartonella species, or any other zoonotic bacteria trying to survive […]
You May Not Have Heard of These Two Bartonella Species
We previously wrote about diseases caused by Bartonella species that had been described in medical literature for more than a century before the bacteria that caused them were identified. For example, B. henselae was isolated from HIV patients experiencing unusual symptoms during the 1990s. Bartonella clarridgeiae and Bartonella koehlerae, two lesser known Bartonella species, were […]
Bartonella and the Liver
Research on HIV patients in the 1990s revealed the bacterium, Bartonella henselae, as the causative agent of cat scratch disease (CSD). These studies also reported patients who developed atypical CSD symptoms, including bacillary peliosis, suggesting that chronic Bartonella species infections (bartonellosis) may lead to impaired liver function in immunosuppressed individuals. Since then, case studies of […]
