Bartonella

A genus of bacteria found in humans and in arthropod vectors; grows slowly in artificial media and may be recovered from blood cultures from infected patients; may be seen intracellularly in tissues and erythrocytes. B. is a minute, Gram-negative, coccobacillary organism, which may appear curved; it can cause an indolent, poorly defined, progressive disease in immunocompromised patients, including those with HIV infections. [A. L. Barton]

- B. bacilliformis a species found in the blood and epithelial cells of lymph node s, spleen, and liver in Oroya fever (it is the cause of Oroya fever) and in blood and eruptive elements in verruga peruana; probably also found in sandflies (Phlebotomus verrucarum); known to be established only on the South American continent and perhaps in Central America; it is the type species of the genus B..

- B. henselae a bacterial species that causes catscratch disease in persons with normal immunity and bacillary angiomatosis in persons with AIDS. SEE ALSO: catscratch disease.

- B. quintana formerly the type species of the genus Rochalimaea, this organism causes trench fever and in AIDS patients is associated with septicemia and endocarditis; arthropod vector is Pediculus humanus, the body louse.

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bar·ton·el·la .bärt-ən-'el-ə n

1) cap a genus of gram-negative bacteria that is the type genus of the family Bartonellaceae and includes one (B. bacilliformis) causing bartonellosis transmitted by sand flies and another (B. henselae syn. Rochalimaea henselae) causing cat scratch disease

2) any bacterium of the genus Bartonella

Bar·ton 'bär-.tōn Alberto L. (1874-1950)

Peruvian physician. In 1909 Barton published an article on elements found in the red blood cells of patients with Oroya fever. In this article he identified the blood parasite (Bartonella bacilliformis) that is the causative agent of Oroya fever and verruga peruana. The organism is now placed in the genus Bartonella, which was named after him in 1915.

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(Haemobartonella)

n.

a genus of parasitic rod-shaped or rounded microorganisms, usually regarded as rickettsiae. They occur in the red blood cells and cells of the lymphatic system, spleen, liver, and kidneys. B. bacilliformis causes bartonellosis in humans.

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Bar·to·nel·la (bahr″tə-nelґə) [Alberto Leopoldo Barton, Peruvian microbiologist, 1871–1950] a genus of bacteria of the family Bartonellaceae, order Rhizobiales, consisting of gram-negative, aerobic, slightly curved rods characteristically occurring in chains, found in tissue cells and erythrocytes. The organism occurs in humans, sometimes asymptomatically, and in arthropod vectors. The type species is B. bacilliforґmis.