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Journal of Neuro-ophthalmology : the... Dec 2023
Topics: Humans; Bartonella; Retinitis; Bartonella henselae; Cat-Scratch Disease
PubMed: 37651205
DOI: 10.1097/WNO.0000000000002000 -
Transplant Infectious Disease : An... Apr 2024
Topics: Humans; Child; Liver Transplantation; Cat-Scratch Disease; Bartonella henselae; Hepatitis; Granuloma
PubMed: 38351508
DOI: 10.1111/tid.14254 -
Parasites & Vectors Jun 2023Hedgehogs are small synanthropic mammals that live in rural areas as well as in urban and suburban areas. They can be reservoirs of several microorganisms, including... (Review)
Review
Hedgehogs are small synanthropic mammals that live in rural areas as well as in urban and suburban areas. They can be reservoirs of several microorganisms, including certain pathogenic agents that cause human and animal public health issues. Hedgehogs are often parasitized by blood-sucking arthropods, mainly hard ticks and fleas, which in turn can also carry various vector-born microorganisms of zoonotic importance. Many biotic factors, such as urbanization and agricultural mechanization, have resulted in the destruction of the hedgehog's natural habitats, leading these animals to take refuge near human dwellings, seeking food and shelter in parks and gardens and exposing humans to zoonotic agents that can be transmitted either directly by them or indirectly by their ectoparasites. In this review, we focus on the microorganisms detected in arthropods sampled from hedgehogs worldwide. Several microorganisms have been reported in ticks collected from these animals, including various Borrelia spp., Anaplasma spp., Ehrlichia spp., and Rickettsia spp. species as well as Coxiella burnetii and Leptospira spp. As for fleas, C. burnetii, Rickettsia spp., Wolbachia spp., Mycobacterium spp. and various Bartonella species have been reported. The detection of these microorganisms in arthropods does not necessarily mean that they can be transmitted to humans and animals. While the vector capacity and competence of fleas and ticks for some of these microorganisms has been proven, in other cases the microorganisms may have simply been ingested with blood taken from an infected host. Further investigations are needed to clarify this issue. As hedgehogs are protected animals, handling them is highly regulated, making it difficult to conduct epidemiological studies on them. Their ectoparasites represent a very interesting source of information on microorganisms circulating in populations of these animals, especially vector-born ones.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Arthropods; Hedgehogs; Rickettsia; Bartonella; Mammals; Siphonaptera; Ticks; Flea Infestations
PubMed: 37349802
DOI: 10.1186/s13071-023-05764-7 -
Epidemiology and Infection Sep 2023Rodents and shrews are major reservoirs of various pathogens that are related to zoonotic infectious diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate co-infections...
Rodents and shrews are major reservoirs of various pathogens that are related to zoonotic infectious diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate co-infections of zoonotic pathogens in rodents and shrews trapped in four provinces of China. We sampled different rodent and shrew communities within and around human settlements in four provinces of China and characterised several important zoonotic viral, bacterial, and parasitic pathogens by PCR methods and phylogenetic analysis. A total of 864 rodents and shrews belonging to 24 and 13 species from were captured, respectively. For viral pathogens, two species of hantavirus (Hantaan orthohantavirus and Caobang orthohantavirus) were identified in 3.47% of rodents and shrews. The overall prevalence of spp., Anaplasmataceae, spp., spp., Spotted fever group Rickettsiae, spp., and were 31.25%, 8.91%, 4.17%, 3.94%, 3.59%, 3.47%, and 0.58%, respectively. Furthermore, the highest co-infection status of three pathogens was observed among spp., spp., and Anaplasmataceae with a co-infection rate of 0.46%. Our results suggested that species distribution and co-infections of zoonotic pathogens were prevalent in rodents and shrews, highlighting the necessity of active surveillance for zoonotic pathogens in wild mammals in wider regions.
Topics: Animals; Bartonella; China; Coinfection; Leptospira; Phylogeny; Rodentia; Shrews
PubMed: 37675640
DOI: 10.1017/S0950268823001450 -
Virulence Dec 2024Gram-negative species are facultative intracellular bacteria that can survive in the harsh intracellular milieu of host cells. They have evolved strategies to evade... (Review)
Review
Gram-negative species are facultative intracellular bacteria that can survive in the harsh intracellular milieu of host cells. They have evolved strategies to evade detection and degradation by the host immune system, which ensures their proliferation in the host. Following infection, alters the initial immunogenic surface-exposed proteins to evade immune recognition via antigen or phase variation. The diverse lipopolysaccharide structures of certain species allow them to escape recognition by the host pattern recognition receptors. Additionally, the survival of mature erythrocytes and their resistance to lysosomal fusion further complicate the immune clearance of this species. Certain species also evade immune attacks by producing biofilms and anti-inflammatory cytokines and decreasing endothelial cell apoptosis. Overall, these factors create a challenging landscape for the host immune system to rapidly and effectively eradicate the species, thereby facilitating the persistence of infections and creating a substantial obstacle for therapeutic interventions. This review focuses on the effects of three human-specific species, particularly their mechanisms of host invasion and immune escape, to gain new perspectives in the development of effective diagnostic tools, prophylactic measures, and treatment options for infections.
Topics: Humans; Bartonella; Immune Evasion; Bartonella Infections; Apoptosis; Biofilms; Membrane Proteins
PubMed: 38443331
DOI: 10.1080/21505594.2024.2322961 -
Trends in Parasitology Apr 2024Ctenocephalides felis, the cat flea, is among the most prevalent and widely dispersed vectors worldwide. Unfortunately, research on C. felis and associated pathogens... (Review)
Review
Ctenocephalides felis, the cat flea, is among the most prevalent and widely dispersed vectors worldwide. Unfortunately, research on C. felis and associated pathogens (Bartonella and Rickettsia spp.) lags behind that of other vectors and vector-borne pathogens. Therefore, we aimed to review fundamental aspects of C. felis as a vector (behavior, epidemiology, phylogenetics, immunology, and microbiome composition) with an emphasis on key techniques and research avenues employed in other vector species. Future laboratory C. felis experimental infections with Bartonella, Rickettsia, and Wolbachia species/strains should examine the vector-pathogen interface utilizing contemporary visualization, transcriptomic, and gene-editing techniques. Further environmental sampling will inform the range and prevalence of C. felis and associated pathogens, improving the accuracy of vector and pathogen modeling to improve infection/infestation risk assessment and diagnostic recommendations.
Topics: Animals; Cats; Ctenocephalides; Flea Infestations; Rickettsia; Bartonella; Biology; Felis; Rickettsia felis; Cat Diseases; Siphonaptera
PubMed: 38458883
DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2024.02.006 -
Acta Cardiologica Feb 2024
Topics: Humans; Bartonella henselae; Endocarditis; Glomerulonephritis; Endocarditis, Bacterial
PubMed: 37906026
DOI: 10.1080/00015385.2023.2257529 -
Clinical Infectious Diseases : An... Mar 2024Bartonella quintana is a louse-borne bacterium that remains a neglected cause of endocarditis in low-resource settings. Our understanding of risk factors, clinical...
BACKGROUND
Bartonella quintana is a louse-borne bacterium that remains a neglected cause of endocarditis in low-resource settings. Our understanding of risk factors, clinical manifestations, and treatment of B. quintana endocarditis are biased by older studies from high-income countries.
METHODS
We searched Pubmed Central, Medline, Scopus, Embase, EBSCO (CABI) Global Health, Web of Science and international trial registers for articles published before March 2023 with terms related to Bartonella quintana endocarditis. We included articles containing case-level information on B. quintana endocarditis and extracted data related to patient demographics, clinical features, diagnostic testing, treatment, and outcome.
RESULTS
A total of 975 records were identified, of which 569 duplicates were removed prior to screening. In total, 84 articles were eligible for inclusion, describing a total of 167 cases. Infections were acquired in 40 different countries; 62 cases (37.1%) were acquired in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Disproportionately more female and pediatric patients were from LMICs. More patients presented with heart failure (n = 70/167 [41.9%]) than fever (n = 65/167 [38.9%]). Mean time from symptom onset to presentation was 5.1 months. Also, 25.7% of cases (n = 43/167) were associated with embolization, most commonly to the spleen and brain; 65.5% of antimicrobial regimens included doxycycline. The vast majority of cases underwent valve replacement surgery (n = 154/167, [98.0%]). Overall case fatality rate was 9.6% (n = 16/167).
CONCLUSIONS
B. quintana endocarditis has a global distribution, and long delays between symptom onset and presentation frequently occur. Improved clinician education and diagnostic capacity are needed to screen at-risk populations and identify infection before endocarditis develops.
Topics: Humans; Female; Child; Bartonella quintana; Trench Fever; Endocarditis; Doxycycline; Endocarditis, Bacterial
PubMed: 37976173
DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciad706 -
International Journal of Systematic and... Apr 2024The alphaproteobacterial order consists of 38 families comprising at least 152 validly published genera as of January 2024. The order was first described in 1957 and...
The alphaproteobacterial order consists of 38 families comprising at least 152 validly published genera as of January 2024. The order was first described in 1957 and underwent important revisions in 2020. However, we show that several inconsistencies in the taxonomy of this order remain and we argue that there is a need for a consistent framework for defining families within the order. We propose a common genome-based framework for defining families within the order , suggesting that families represent monophyletic groups in core-genome phylogenies that share pairwise average amino acid identity values above ~75 % when calculated from a core set of 59 proteins. Applying this framework, we propose the formation of four new families and to reassign the genera , , and into fam. nov., fam. nov., and fam. nov., respectively, and the genera , , , and into fam. nov. We further propose to unify the families , , , and as ; the families and as ; the families and as ; and the families and as . Lastly, we propose to reassign several genera to existing families. Specifically, we propose to reassign the genus to the family ; the genera , , and to the family ; the genus to the emended family ; the genus to the family ; and the genus to the family . Our data also support the recent proposal to reassign the genus to the family .
Topics: Humans; Phylogeny; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Fatty Acids; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; DNA, Bacterial; Base Composition; Bacterial Typing Techniques; Alphaproteobacteria; Beijerinckiaceae
PubMed: 38619983
DOI: 10.1099/ijsem.0.006328 -
Journal of Clinical Microbiology Dec 2023Numbers of new and revised microbial taxa are continuously expanding, and the rapid accumulation of novel bacterial species is challenging to keep up with in the best of... (Review)
Review
Numbers of new and revised microbial taxa are continuously expanding, and the rapid accumulation of novel bacterial species is challenging to keep up with in the best of circumstances. With that in mind, following the template of reports on prokaryotic species isolated from humans, this is now the second publication summarizing new and revised taxa in non-domestic animal species in the . The majority of new taxa were obtained as part of programs to identify bacteria from mucosal surfaces and the gastrointestinal tract from healthy wildlife. A few notable bacteria included new spp. from mammalian and aquatic sources and a novel spp. isolated from a rodent, both of which could be considered members of emerging and re-emerging genera with pathogenic potential in humans and animals.
Topics: Humans; Animals; Bacteria; Animals, Wild; Bartonella; Rodentia; Gastrointestinal Tract
PubMed: 37888990
DOI: 10.1128/jcm.00840-23