What is bartonellosis?
Definition Bartonellosis is an infectious bacterial disease with an acute form (which has a sudden onset and short course) and a chronic form (which has more gradual onset and longer duration). The disease is transmitted by sandflies and occurs in western South America. Characterized by a form of red blood cell deficiency (hemolytic anemia) and fever, the potentially fatal acute form is called Oroya fever or Carrion’s disease. The chronic form is identified by painful skin lesions. Description The acute form of the disease gets its name from an outbreak that occurred in 1871 near La Oroya, Peru. More than 7,000 people perished. Some survivors later developed a skin disease, called verruga peruana (Peruvian warts). These skin lesions were observed prior to the 1871 outbreak–perhaps as far back as the pre-Columbian era–but a connection to Oroya fever was unknown. In 1885, a young medical researcher, Daniel Carrion, inoculated himself with blood from a lesion to study the course of the
