Original articleTick-borne agents in domesticated and stray cats from the city of Campo Grande, state of Mato Grosso do Sul, midwestern Brazil
Introduction
Recently, ticks and tick-borne pathogens are expanding their zoo-geographic range due to climate and environmental changes. Additionally, arthropod vectors have now adapted to a peridomicillary cycle involving cats (Shaw et al., 2001). In this context, species belonging to the Anaplasmataceae family, piroplasmids and Hepatozoon spp. have emerged as important pathogens among wild and domestic carnivores.
Piroplasmids (Babesia spp., Theileria spp., and Cytauxzoon spp.) parasitize cats’ blood cells, causing sporadic cases of disease, and rarely outbreaks (Carli et al., 2012, Criado-Fornelio, 2012a). These protozoa have a complex life-cycle which includes Ixodid ticks as definitive hosts and felines as intermediate hosts (Criado-Fornelio, 2012a).
On the other hand, vectors of feline ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis, caused by Ehrlichia canis and Anaplasma phagocytophilum, respectively, are still unknown (Almosny et al., 1998, Almosny and Massard, 1999, Stubbs et al., 2000, Bjoersdorff et al., 1999, Tarello, 2005). Exposure to arthropods (ticks and fleas) and ingestion of rodents are suggestive routes of transmission of this disease among cats (Beaufils et al., 1999).
Hepatozoonosis, an emergent disease in felines, is transmitted by ingestion of an infected invertebrate definitive host (Criado-Fornelio et al., 2003). Even though hepatozoonosis in felines is normally subclinical, pathogenic effects may be exacerbated in stressed, immunocompromised animals or in concomintant infections. The ticks species involved in transmission cycles are still unknown (Criado-Fornelio, 2012b).
New Ehrlichia spp. and Anaplasma spp. genotypes have been detected in wild felines maintained in captivity in the state of São Paulo (André et al., 2010a, André et al., 2012). Ehrlichia sp. closely related to E. canis has been detected in domestic cats sampled in the cities of Viçosa (state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil) (Oliveira et al., 2009), São Luís (state of Maranhão, northeastern Brazil) (Braga et al., 2012) and Cuiabá (state of Mato Grosso, central-midwestern Brazil) (Braga et al., 2014). Recently, Anaplasma sp. closely related to A. phagocytophilum, Babesia vogeli and Theileria sp. closely related to Theileria equi have been detected in stray cats in a zoo in the city of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil (André et al., 2014). While new genotypes of Hepatozoon spp. were reported in wild felids maintained in captivity in zoos in the cities of Jundiaí, Ilha Solteira (state of São Paulo) and Cuiabá (state of Mato Grosso) (André et al., 2010b), Hepatozoon spp. closely related to Hepatozoon canis (Rubini et al., 2006) and Hepatozoon felis (De Bortoli et al., 2011) have been detected in domestic cats in the states of São Paulo and Maranhão (northeastern Brazil), respectively. Although Cytauxzoon sp. has been detected in neotropical wild felids and lions maintained in zoos in cities located in the states of São Paulo (André et al., 2009), Rio de Janeiro (Peixoto et al., 2007) and Distrito Federal (André et al., 2009), there is only a report of this parasite in domestic cats in Brazil, in the state of Rio de Janeiro (Maia et al., 2013). The present work aimed to detect the presence of species belonging to the Anaplasmataceae family, piroplasmas and Hepatozoon spp. DNA in blood samples of domesticated and stray cats in the city of Campo Grande, state of Mato Grosso do Sul, midwestern Brazil.
Section snippets
Material and methods
Between January and April 2013, whole blood samples were collected from 151 cats (54 males, 95 females and two without gender registration) in the city of Campo Grande, which is the capital of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. Stray non-domesticated cats (n = 65) were caught by technical staff from the local zoonosis control center (CCZ). Domesticated cats (n = 86) were sampled during pre-surgical procedures for a castration project at the CCZ; these animals were returned to their homes
Results
All DNA samples amplified the predicted product for feline 28S rDNA, which indicates a successful DNA extraction. Out of 151 sampled cats, 13 (8.5%) were positive for Ehrlichia spp. 16SrRNA (eight [5.29%] females (three [1.98%] domesticated and five [3.31%] stray) and four (2.64%) males (three [1.98%] domesticated and one [0.66%] stray) and one cat (0.66%) without gender and area of activity records. The analysis on 13 sequenced products based on the 16S rRNA region (GenBank accession numbers
Discussion
The present study showed that Ehrlichia spp., piroplasmids (B. vogeli, Theileria spp. and Cytauxzoon spp.) and, more rarely, Hepatozoon spp. circulate among stray and domesticated cats in midwestern Brazil.
Ehrlichia spp. DNA closely related to E. canis was found in blood samples of 13 (8.5%) cats in the present study. In the last years, Ehrlichia spp. has been detected in domestic and wild felines in Brazil, by molecular and serological techniques. In the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern
Conclusions
The present study showed that Ehrlichia spp., piroplasmids (B. vogeli, Theileria spp. and Cytauxzoon spp.) and, more rarely, Hepatozoon spp. circulate among stray and domesticated cats in Brazil. The pathogenic effects of these isolates in cats are still unknown. Infections caused by tick-borne agents (piroplasmids, Anaplasma spp., Ehrlichia spp. and Hepatozoon spp.) among other vector-borne pathogens (hemoplasmas and Bartonella spp.) should be included in the differential diagnosis of cats
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) for providing financial support (2013/09889-0) and Centro de Controle de Zoonoses de Campo Grande (CCZ) for technical assistance.
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