| Summary: | <i>Bartonella </i>spp. are increasingly implicated in association with a spectrum of zoonotic infectious diseases. One hundred sanitary workers in La Rioja, Spain completed a questionnaire and provided blood specimens for <i>Bartonella </i>spp. serology and <i>Bartonella </i>alpha-Proteobacteria growth medium (BAPGM) enrichment blood culture/PCR. Six immunofluorescence assays (IFA) were performed and aseptically obtained blood specimens were inoculated into liquid BAPGM and subcultured onto blood agar plates. <i>Bartonella </i>DNA was amplified using conventional and real-time PCR assays. The <i>Bartonella </i>spp., strain, or genotype was determined by DNA sequencing. <i>Bartonella </i>seroreactivity was documented in 83.1% and bloodstream infection in 21.6% of participants. <i>Bartonella henselae</i>, <i>B. vinsonii </i>subsp. <i>berkhoffii </i>genotypes I and III, and <i>B. quintana </i>were identified. IFA seroreactivity and PCR positivity were not statistically associated with self-reported symptoms. Our results suggest that exposure to and non-clinical infection with <i>Bartonella </i>spp. may occur more often than previously suspected in the La Rioja region.
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