Prospective studies of Bartonella of rodents. Part I. Demographic and temporal patterns in population dynamics.

Abstract

The temporal dynamics of Bartonella infections in a rodent community were described by repeatedly capturing and sampling individual animals. Among six rodent species, from which bartonellae were isolated, cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus) accounted for > 98% of the bacteremic animals. All cotton rats captured four or more times were Bartonella-culture positive at least once. The lowest monthly prevalence of Bartonella in cotton rats was in June (49%) and the highest was in October (95%). Prevalence of Bartonella infection increased to > 90% among juvenile and subadult rats before declining to < 40% among the largest-oldest individuals. Bacteremia levels ranged between 40 and 4.0 x 10(6) colony forming units (CFU) per 1 mL of blood. Male cotton rats had significantly higher CFUs than females (p = 0.006). The median of Bartonella bacteremia decreased monotonically by age group among cotton rats. Although Bartonella infections were highly prevalent among cotton rats, only 8.5% of rats had reactive antibodies at titers of > or = 1:32 and none had antibodies titers of > 1:256.

• Authors: Michael Kosoy, Eric Mandel, Douglas Green, Eric Marston, James Childs
• Journal: Vector borne and zoonotic diseases (Larchmont, N.Y.) (Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis) Vol. 4 Issue 4 Pg. 285-95 ( 2004) ISSN: 1530-3667 [Print] United States
• PMID: 15671735 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Antibodies, Bacterial

Topics

• Age Factors
• Animals
• Antibodies, Bacterial (blood)
• Bacteremia (epidemiology, microbiology, veterinary)
• Bartonella (isolation & purification)
• Bartonella Infections (epidemiology, microbiology, veterinary)
• Colony Count, Microbial
• Demography
• Female
• Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect (veterinary)
• Longitudinal Studies
• Male
• Peromyscus (microbiology)
• Population Dynamics
• Prospective Studies
• Rodent Diseases (epidemiology, microbiology)
• Seasons
• Seroepidemiologic Studies
• Sigmodontinae (microbiology)
• United States (epidemiology)