Stützer Bianca, Hartmann Katrin
Clinic for Small Animal Medicine, LMU University of Munich, 80539 Munich, Germany.
J Feline Med Surg. 2012 Sep;14(9):612-21. doi: 10.1177/1098612X12458208.
Bartonellae are small, vector-transmitted Gram-negative intracellular bacteria that are well adapted to one or more mammalian reservoir hosts. Cats are the natural reservoir for Bartonella henselae, which is a (re-)emerging bacterial pathogen. It can cause cat scratch disease in humans and, in immunocompromised people, may lead to severe systemic diseases, such as bacillary angiomatosis. Cats bacteraemic with B henselae constitute the main reservoir from which humans become infected. Most cats naturally infected with B henselae show no clinical signs themselves, but other Bartonella species for which cats are accidental hosts appear to have more pathogenicity.
Several studies have reported a prevalence of previous or current Bartonella species infection in cats of up to 36%. B henselae is common in cats worldwide, and bacteraemia can be documented by blood culture in about a quarter of healthy cats. The distribution of B henselae to various parts of the world has largely occurred through humans migrating with their pet cats. The pathogen is mainly transmitted from cat to cat by fleas, and the majority of infected cats derive from areas with high flea exposure. No significant difference in B henselae prevalence has been determined between male and female cats. In studies on both naturally and experimentally infected cats, chronic bacteraemia has mainly been found in cats under the age of 2 years, while those over 2 years of age are rarely chronically bacteraemic.
This article reviews published studies and case reports on bartonellosis to explore the clinical significance of the infection in cats and its impact on humans. The article also discusses possible treatment options for cats and means of minimising the zoonotic potential.
巴尔通体是一类小型的、通过媒介传播的革兰氏阴性细胞内细菌，能很好地适应一种或多种哺乳动物宿主。猫是亨氏巴尔通体的自然宿主，亨氏巴尔通体是一种新出现的细菌性病原体。它可导致人类患猫抓病，在免疫功能低下的人群中，可能引发严重的全身性疾病，如杆菌性血管瘤病。感染亨氏巴尔通体的菌血症猫是人类感染的主要传染源。大多数自然感染亨氏巴尔通体的猫本身并无临床症状，但猫作为偶然宿主的其他巴尔通体菌种似乎具有更强的致病性。
多项研究报告称，猫既往或当前感染巴尔通体菌种的患病率高达36%。亨氏巴尔通体在全球范围内的猫中都很常见，约四分之一的健康猫通过血培养可检测到菌血症。亨氏巴尔通体在世界各地的传播主要是通过人类携带宠物猫迁徙实现的。该病原体主要通过跳蚤在猫与猫之间传播，大多数感染猫来自跳蚤暴露风险高的地区。未发现雄猫和雌猫在亨氏巴尔通体患病率上有显著差异。在对自然感染和实验感染猫的研究中，慢性菌血症主要见于2岁以下的猫，而2岁以上的猫很少出现慢性菌血症。
本文回顾了已发表的关于巴尔通体病的研究和病例报告，以探讨猫感染的临床意义及其对人类的影响。本文还讨论了猫可能的治疗方案以及降低人畜共患病风险的方法。
