Bartonella henselae in Skin Biopsy Specimens of Patients with Cat-Scratch Disease

Abstract

During the past 2 years, we identified live Bartonella henselae in the primary inoculation sites of 3 patients after a cat scratch. Although our data are preliminary, we report that a cutaneous swab of the skin lesion from a patient in the early stage of cat-scratch disease can be useful for diagnosis of the infection.

Keywords

• Bartonella henselae
• skin biopsy
• cat-scratch disease
• zoonoses
• bacteria
• France