A cross sectional study on Bartonella henselae infection in dogs in Ahvaz district by PCR

Bartonella species are being recognized an increasingly important bacterial pathogens in veterinary and humane medicine. The objective of the present study was to determine the prevalence of Bartonella henselae in blood، saliva and nail of dogs in Ahvaz district، Southwest of Iran. It was studied the prevalence of Bartonella henselae infection in 100 domestic dogs living in Ahvaz. Blood، saliva and nail samples (300 samples) were collected from studied dogs for one year period. They were analyzed for the presence of Bartonella henselae by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. In this study، Bartonella henselae was not detected in blood، saliva and nail specimens of the studied dogs. DNA of Bartonella henselae was amplified by PCR، using two primers، Bart983as and Bart321s. This survey is the first study on the prevalence of Bartonella henselae infection in dog''s populations from Iran. Absence of the infection in the studied dogs shows that they have not relatively role in transmission of infection. Nevertheless، it is proposed another study on a larger population of dogs.