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Updated: May 1, 2026
Diagnosis of Ecto- and Endoparasites in Laboratory Rats and Mice
Published on: September 6, 2011
Isolation and molecular identification of Bartonellae from wild rats (Rattus species) in Malaysia
Sun Tee Tay1, Aida Syafinaz Mokhtar2, Siti Nursheena Mohd Zain2
1Tropical Infectious Diseases Research and Education Centre, Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, and Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Laboratory Animal Resource Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia tayst@um.edu.my.
Abstract:
This study describes our investigation on the prevalence and molecular identification of bartonellae from Rattus diardii and R. norvegicus in the urban areas of Malaysia. Of 95 rats investigated, Bartonella tribocorum, B. rattimassiliensis, B. coopersplainsensis, B. elizabethae, and B. queenslandensis were isolated from kidney and spleen homogenates of four rats. Bartonellae DNA was amplified from the rat organ tissues by using primers specific for the bartonellae RNA polymerase beta subunit (rpoB) gene in nine other rats. Sequence analysis of the rpoB gene fragments shows the identification of B. queenslandensis in five rats, B. elizabethae in three rats, and B. tribocorum in one rat. Combining the results of isolation and molecular detection of bartonellae, we found that the prevalence of Bartonella infection in the Rattus spp. investigated in this study was 13.7%. Implementation of effective rat control program in the urban areas is necessary to prevent the spillover of bartonellosis from rats to humans.
