The first cases of Bartonella bovis infection in cattle from Central Europe.

Bartonella bovis was recently identified as a cause of bovine endocarditis, although Bartonella infections in natural hosts are usually asymptomatic. The disease is often misdiagnosed and is only discovered during the slaughtering process. In Europe B. bovis infections in cattle were reported only in France and Italy, nothing is known about the occurrence of B. bovis in cattle for the northern and eastern parts of Europe. The aim of our study was to search for Bartonella DNA in cattle in Central Europe (Poland) using three different loci (rpoB, ITS 16-23S rRNA, gltA). Our study resulted in the first detection of the asymptomatic B. bovis infection in 6.8% (12/177) of cattle in Central Europe. The potential role of B. bovis as a zoonotic agent for domestic animals and human diseases creates the need for further studies of these bacteria in natural and accidental hosts.