Multilocus sequence typing of Bartonella henselae in the United Kingdom indicates that only a few, uncommon sequence types are associated with zoonotic disease

Chaloner, GL; Harrison, TG; Coyne, KP; Aanensen, DM; Birtles, RJ

Abstract

Bartonella henselae is one of the most common zoonotic agents acquired from companion animals (cats) in
industrialized countries. Nonetheless, although the prevalence of infections in cats is high, the number of
human cases reported is relatively low. One hypothesis for this discrepancy is that B. henselae strains vary in
their zoonotic potential. To test this hypothesis, we employed structured sampling to explore the population
structure of B. henselae in the United Kingdom and to determine the distribution of strains associated with
zoonotic disease within this structure. A total of 118 B. henselae strains were delineated into 12 sequence types
(STs) using multilocus sequence typing. We observed that most (85%) of the zoonosis-associated strains
belonged to only three genotypes, i.e., ST2, ST5, and ST8. Conversely, most (74%) of the feline isolates belonged
to ST4, ST6, and ST7. The difference in host association of ST2, ST5, and ST8 (zoonosis associated) and ST6
(feline) was statistically significant (P < 0.05), indicating that a few, uncommon STs were responsible for the
majority of symptomatic human infections.

Citation

Chaloner, G., Harrison, T., Coyne, K., Aanensen, D., & Birtles, R. (2011). Multilocus sequence typing of Bartonella henselae in the United Kingdom indicates that only a few, uncommon sequence types are associated with zoonotic disease. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 49(6), 2132-2137. https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.00275-11

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2011
• Deposit Date: Dec 20, 2011
• Journal: Journal of Clinical Microbiology
• Print ISSN: 0095-1137
• Publisher: American Society for Microbiology
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 49
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 2132-2137
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.00275-11
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/JCM.00275-11