bartonellosis /bär′tənəlō″sis/ , an acute infection caused by Bartonella bacilliformis, transmitted by the bite of a sandfly. It is characterized by fever, severe anemia, bone pain, and, several weeks after the first symptoms are observed, multiple nodular or verrucous skin lesions. The disease is endemic in the valleys of the Andes in Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador. The treatment usually includes chloramphenicol, penicillin, streptomycin, or tetracycline. Untreated, the infection is often fatal. Also called Carrión’s disease, Oroya fever, verruga peruana.
