Bacteria of the genus Bartonella are parasites that can be transmitted to humans via insect bites and animal scratches, resulting in an infection known as “bartonellosis.”
Cat-scratch disease and trench fever are forms of bartonellosis caused by different Bartonella species infecting humans. Bartonella bacteria can cause lesions to pop up in the skin and internal organs.
To provide themselves with a safe habitat, the bacteria bring about the increase of the number of “vascular endothelial” cells (cells that line the interior of blood vessels), which hide themselves from the host immune system and stimulate the creation of new blood vessels, through a process called “angiogenesis.”
