%0 Journal Article
%T Bartonella spp. Prevalence (Serology, Culture, and PCR) in Sanitary Workers in La Rioja Spain.
%A Portillo A
%A Maggi R
%A Oteo JA
%A Bradley J
%A García-Álvarez L
%A San-Martín M
%A Roura X
%A Breitschwerdt E
%J Pathogens
%V 9
%N 3
%D Mar 2020 4
%M 32143533
%F 4.531
%R 10.3390/pathogens9030189
%X Bartonella spp. are increasingly implicated in association with a spectrum of zoonotic infectious diseases. One hundred sanitary workers in La Rioja, Spain completed a questionnaire and provided blood specimens for Bartonella spp. serology and Bartonella alpha-Proteobacteria growth medium (BAPGM) enrichment blood culture/PCR. Six immunofluorescence assays (IFA) were performed and aseptically obtained blood specimens were inoculated into liquid BAPGM and subcultured onto blood agar plates. Bartonella DNA was amplified using conventional and real-time PCR assays. The Bartonella spp., strain, or genotype was determined by DNA sequencing. Bartonella seroreactivity was documented in 83.1% and bloodstream infection in 21.6% of participants. Bartonella henselae, B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii genotypes I and III, and B. quintana were identified. IFA seroreactivity and PCR positivity were not statistically associated with self-reported symptoms. Our results suggest that exposure to and non-clinical infection with Bartonella spp. may occur more often than previously suspected in the La Rioja region.