Molecular epidemiological study on the causative agent of cat scratch disease, Bartonella henselae

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Bartonella henselae is the causative agent of cat scratch disease(CSD). We characterized B. henselae isolates from CSD patients and cats using DNA sequence-based genotyping methods. Our study demonstrated that human infections in Japan can be caused by B. henselae strains in MST cluster 1, distinct from clusters containing the Houston-1 and Marseille type strains. Furthermore, we developed a novel genotyping method based on three virulence genes(virB5, bepA and badA), and uncovered the genotypic distribution of B. henselae in Japan.