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Abstract Bartonella henselae was initially described in 1992 as Rochalimaea henselae. The bacteria was isolated from HIV immunocompromised patient who was undergoing febrile syndrome. It was called Bartonella henselae in the honor of Dr. Diane Hensel, a microbiologist who worked in the isolation of this family (Loutit, 1998). The number of species that comprise the family Bartonellacae, genus Bartonella has recently increased from only one, Bartonella bacilliformis, to 14 species. At least five, B. bacilliformis, B. henselae, B. quintana, B.elizabethae, B. clarridegae have been associated with different diseases and syndromes in humans. (Maguina and Gotuzzo, 2001). Bartonella henselae is a fastidious gram negative bacteria responsible for bacillary angiomatosis, trench fever, cat scratch disease and infective endocarditis (La Scola and Raoult, 1999). Bartonellosis includes several clinical syndromes. Cat scratch disease with enlarged lymph nodes and other organ involvement, Bacteremia, endocarditis, bacillary angiomatosis, peliosis hepatitis and oroya fever are clinical forms of Bartonella species. |