Antimicrobial susceptibility of Bartonella henselae using Etest methodology

Bartonella henselae is a fastidious slow growing pathogen which is seldom cultured in the laboratory. Previous descriptions of antimicrobial susceptibility have been largely limited to feline isolates and/or laboratory reference strains, with no accounting for genotypic or phenotypic diversity.

An optimal method of antimicrobial susceptibility testing by Etest was established to compare the antimicrobial susceptibilities of 12 different isolates of B. henselae, 5 human and 7 feline, which have previously been well characterized by 16S rRNA sequencing, multi-locus sequence typing (MLST), phase variation and passage number.

No difference in susceptibility could be attributed to differences in genotype, source of the isolate or passage number. Where comparisons were drawn with previously published results, these were found to be concordant.

We conclude that antibiotic susceptibility can be determined by a simple Etest method for B. henselae isolates. This method is reproducible among diverse strains, and is sufficiently predictable that generalizations can be confidently made about optimal antibiotic choices.