Cat scratch disease and bacillary angiomatosis: aetiological agents and the link with AIDS

The recent characterisation of a new species of the genus Rochalimaea is the culmination of a ten year search for the identity of the agent of bacillary angiomatosis, a condition that is increasingly recognised in association with AIDS. This work has also implicated Rochalimaea henselae in the aetiology of cat scratch disease contact with cats is a risk factor for both conditions. This report describes both diseases and reviews progress toward understanding their microbiology. R. quintana is also implicated as an agent of bacillary angiomatosis and was recognised much earlier as the cause of trench fever.