ABSTRACT
The aim of the present study is to investigate the prevalence of Bartonella infection in deer in Thailand and to characterize the isolates by biochemical, morphological and genetic analysis. A total of 247 blood samples were collected from Rusa deer (Rusa timorensis) in a livestock breeding facility in Thailand. Bartonella bacteria were isolated in 3.6% of the blood samples. Three out of 110 (2.7%) males and 6 of 137 (4.4%) females were positive for Bartonella. A higher prevalence of Bartonella was observed in young deer under 4 years of age compared to adults over 4 years of age, but no Bartonella was isolated from deer over 8 years of age. Phylogenetic analysis of concatenated sequences of seven loci of Bartonella indicated that all the isolates from Rusa deer in Thailand were identical and formed a distinct cluster from other known Bartonella species.
