Bartonella henselae and Bartonella clarridgeiae infection in domestic catsfrom the Philippines

One hundred seven domestic cats from The Philippines were serologically tes ted to establish the prevalence of Bartonella infection. A subset of 31 of these cats also had whole blood collected to tentatively isolate Bartonella strains. Bartonella henselae and B. clarridgeiae were isolated from 19 (61 %) of these cats. Bartonella henselae type I was isolated from 17 (89%) of the 19 culture-positive cats. Six cats (31%) were infected with B. clarridg eiae, of which four were coinfected with B, henselae. Sixty-eight percent ( 73 of 107) and 65% (70 of 107) of the cats had antibodies to B, henselae an d B. clarridgeiae, respectively, detected by an immunofluorescence antibody (IFA) test at a titer greater than or equal to 1:64. When tested by enzyme immunoassay (EIA), 67 cats (62.6%) had antibodies to B, henselae and 71 ca ts (66.4%) had antibodies to B. clarridgeiae. Compared with the LFA test, t he B. henselae EIA had a sensitivity of 90.4% and a specificity of 97%, wit h positive and negative predictive values of 98.5% and 82.5%, respectively. Similarly, the B. clarridgeiae EIA had a sensitivity of 97% and a specific ity of 92% specificity, with positive and negative predictive values of 95. 8% and 94.4%, respectively. The presence of antibodies to Bartonella was st rongly associated with flea infestation. Domestic cats represent a large re servoir of Bartonella infection in the Philippines.