Volume 16, Number 3—March 2010 Potential for Tick-borne
Bartonelloses As worldwide vectors of human infectious diseases,
ticks are considered to be second only to mosquitoes. Each tick
species has preferred environmental conditions and biotopes that
determine its geographic distribution, the pathogens it vectors,
and the areas that pose risk for tick-borne diseases.
Researchers have identified an increasing number of bacterial
pathogens that are transmitted by ticks, including Anaplasma,
Borrelia, Ehrlichia, and Rickettsia spp. Recent reports
involving humans and canines suggest that ticks should be
considered as potential vectors of Bartonella spp. To strengthen
this suggestion, numerous molecular surveys to detect Bartonella
DNA in ticks have been conducted. However, there is little
evidence that Bartonella spp. can replicate within ticks and no
definitive evidence of transmission by a tick to a vertebrate
host. Bartonella spp. are gram-negative bacilli or coccobacilli
that belong to the α-2 subgroup of Pro