News
Important “One Health in Action”... a veterinarian, medical microbiologist and physician working collaboratively on zoonotic disease pathogen Neurological Manifestations of Bartonellosis in Immunocompetent Patients: A composite of reports from 2005-2012 Edward B. Breitschwerdt, DVM, DACVIM1, Sushama Sontakke, PhD1,2, Sarah E. Hopkins, MD3 1Intracellular Pathogens Research Laboratory, Center for Comparative Medicine and Translational Research, North Carolina State University,Raleigh, NC 27607, USA 2Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27607, USA 3Department of Neurology, Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, DE 19803, USA Abstract: In recent years, an increasing number of Bartonella species have been identified as zoonotic pathogens, transmitted by animal bites, scratches or by arthropods. Although historically the term bartonellosis was attributed to infections with Bartonella bacilliformis, transmitted by sandflies in the Peruvian Andes, a more inclusive medical use of this term now includes infections caused by any Bartonella sp., anywhere in the world. Potentially, because Bartonella spp. can infect erythrocytes, endothelial cells and various macrophage-type cells, including brain derived dendritic cells in vitro, the clinical and pathological manifestations of bartonellosis appear to be very diverse. The purpose of this review is to focus attention on neurological bartonellosis cases reported in immunocompetent patients since 2005. Among these patients, disease course has varied substantially in length and severity, including one fatal case of encephalitis in a child. Based upon the evolving literature, a high clinical index of suspicion is warranted. Comment from the first author: The genus Bartonella provides an important contemporary example of One Health in action (i.e. physicians, veterinarians and disease ecologists working together). The primary motivations for this review were to emphasize the expanding number of arthropod vectors, wild and domestic animal reservoirs and growing number of named Bartonella species that have induceddocumented human infections in recent years. In addition, this review will hopefully help physicians, public health officials and veterinarians to stop equating infection with a Bartonella species to historical Cat Scratch Disease, but to start considering the possibility that a much more complex environmental and medical scenario might be contributing to diverse neurological disease presentations in neurobartonellosis patients throughout the world. Note: Dr. Breitschwerdt, a veterinarian, is a prominent vector borne infectious diseases researcher and recognized One Health Supporter/Advocate; Dr. Sontakke is a medical microbiologist who has previously collaborated with Dr. Breitschwerdt on studies related to bartonellosis; and Dr. Hopkins, a physician, is a pediatric neurologist, who has managed a patient with neurobartonellosis identified in Dr. Breitschwerdt’s research laboratory. SEE ATTACHMENT to read complete open-access article: Reference Citation: Breitschwerdt EB, Sontakke S, Hopkins S. Neurological Manifestations of Bartonellosis in Immunocompetent Patients: A composite of reports from 2005-2012. J Neuroparasitol . 3: 15 pages, 2012 doi:10.4303/jnp/235640
Quick Links
-
Please see MONOGRAPH in Veterinaria Italiana
“One Health – One Medicine”: linking human, animal and environmental health
Read More -
History of the One Health Initiative team and website (April 2006 through September 2015) and the One Health Initiative website since October 1, 2008 … revised to June 2020 and again to date February 2021
Read More -
Vaccines for zoonoses: a One Health paradigm
SciTech Europa Quarterly (March 2018) – Issue 26
Read More -
Pan European Networks SciTech Europa Quarterly
SciTech Europa Vaccines for zoonoses: a one Health paradigm – Pages 227-229 (Read PDF) “One of the One Health Initiative team’s co-founders and leaders is an internationally-recognized eminent physician…
Read More Read PDF