Infections with Bartonella spp. in free ranging cervids and deer keds (Lipoptena cervi) in Southern Norway

Abstract

Bartonella species are Gram-negative, facultative intracellular bacteria. The bacteria are hemotropic, arthropod-borne and can cause long-term bacteremia in mammalian hosts. The predominant arthropod vectors and the mode of transmission for many novel Bartonella species remain elusive or essentially unstudied. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of Bartonella infection in cervids and deer keds and to characterize the isolates in order to evaluate a possible transmission route. A total of 183 samples of spleen from roe deer, red deer and moose were collected through the hunting season in southern Norway. Wingless deer ked imagines were collected from the skin of the carcasses. PCR and sequencing of the partial gltA gene and 16S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer region (ITS) were applied for Bartonella identification. Bartonella spp. was detected in 49 out of 59 pools of adult wingless deer keds, in 3 out of 40 spleen samples of roe deer, in 7 out of 25 of red deer and in 31 out of 118 of moose. Phylogenetic analysis based on gltA gene demonstrated two distinct groups of sequences which showed 98-96 % similarity with B. bovis (moose samples) and 99-93 % similarity with B. shoenbuchensis (red deer and deer ked samples from red deer). Phylogenetic analysis of ITS region sequences derived from roe deer revealed 97% similarity with B.bovis, while sequences derived from red deer showed 99-97% similarity with B. schoenbuchensis, B. chomelii and B. capreoli.