Bartonella Can Be Tick Borne, Says Study

Doctors affiliated with the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) have for years treated patients for what appeared to be bartonellosis, infection with Bartonella henselae bacteria. Bartonella can also cause cat-scratch disease, which is usually mild and self-limiting but can be more severe in immune-compromised people, such as AIDS patients. ILADS doctors noted that Bartonella in their Lyme patients could also be severe.

ILADS doctors asserted that Bartonella could be tick borne, a coinfection to Lyme disease along with Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, and Babesia infections. The guidelines from the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), however, specifically recommended against Bartonella treatment (page 1094), and their lead writer wrote in the CDC publication Emerging Infectious Diseases in 2010 that "To date, no report has documented transmission of B. henselae or any other Bartonella spp. to an animal after a tick bite."

In a recent study published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, French researchers in collaboration with the US CDC demonstrated that Ixodes ricinus ticks could transmit Bartonella birtlesii from infected to non-infected mice. This is a huge step forward in proving that other Bartonella species can also be spread by other Ixodes ticks to other mammals. The information gap is beginning to close. As the author summary states, "Consequently, bartonelloses should now be included in the differential diagnosis for patients exposed to tick bites."

Reis, C. et al (2012). Vector competence of the tick Ixodes ricinus for transmission of Bartonella birtlesii [Electronic version]. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases(5) 5, e1186. Retrieved 2/4/2012 from http://www.plosntds.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001186