CHARACTERIZATION OF BARTONELLA-HENSELAE ISOLATED FROM BACILLARY ANGIOMATOSIS LESIONS IN A HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS-INFECTED PATIENT IN GERMANY

Infections with Bartonella (Rochalimaea) henselae can result in a vari ety of clinical entities, including bacillary angiomatosis in immunoco mpromised hosts. The fastidious nature of this bacterium has so far pr evented the culture of many clinical isolates. We report the recovery of the first European B. henselae isolate associated with bacillary an giomatosis. The isolate was cultured in a frozen skin biopsy specimen from a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patient and was cha racterized by means of biochemical, bacteriologic, immunologic, and mo lecular biological methods including pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. This strain was compared with two B. henselae strains isolated in the United States to determine the relationship between the isolates. We found that it was phenotypically and genotypically indiscernible from B. henselae Houston-1, a blood culture isolate from an HIV-infected pa tient in Houston. These data suggest that one B. henselae clone is ass ociated with human infections in Europe and the United States.