Determination of Bartonella species in ectoparasites of wild mammals

Abstract

Bartonella is a small, pleomorphic, gram-negative bacteria. This bacteria species is known to cause a disease called bartonellosis. The disease may be transmitted by parasites such as ticks or fleas or by direct contact with the infected blood. The aim of this study was to determinate Bartonella spp. infection in ectoparasites of wild mammals. A total 118 ectoparasites were collected (8 fleas and 110 ticks) from 5 different species of wild animals. Bartonella DNA in samples was detected using a nested-PCR of the 16S-23S rRNA ITS region and two primer sets WIT-F/WIT-R (external primers) and Bh311-32F/LongITS-R (internal primers). A total 3.39 % (4/118) tested ectoparasites were infected with the Bartonella pathogen. All Bartonella positive samples were sequenced. Sequence analysis of the 16S-23S rRNR ITS region fragment sequinces showed that fleas were infected with B.hensellae and ticks with B.schoenbuchensis species.