Survey of vector-borne agents in feral cats and first report of Babesia gibsoni in cats on St Kitts, West Indies

BMC Veterinary Research

Research Article

Chengming Wang¹  Jilei Zhang²  Jing Li²  Ke Huang²  Silvia Marchi³  Gillian Carmichael Branford³  Michel Vandenplas³  Patrick John Kelly³  Liza Köster⁴ 

[1] College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA;College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China;One Health Center for Zoonoses and Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, P.O. Box 334, Basseterre, St. Kitts, Saint Kitts and Nevis;One Health Center for Zoonoses and Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, P.O. Box 334, Basseterre, St. Kitts, Saint Kitts and Nevis;Glasgow University School of Veterinary Medicine, Small Animal Hospital, Garscube Campus, 464 Bearsden Road, G61 1QH, Glasgow, UK;

关键词: Babesia;    Cat;    Ehrlichia;    Rickettsia;    Vector-borne;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12917-017-1230-1

 received in 2017-02-05, accepted in 2017-10-30,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAs there is little data on vector-borne diseases of cats in the Caribbean region and even around the world, we tested feral cats from St Kitts by PCR to detect infections with Babesia, Ehrlichia and spotted fever group Rickettsia (SFGR) and surveyed them for antibodies to Rickettsia rickettsii and Ehrlichia canis.ResultsWhole blood was collected from apparently healthy feral cats during spay/ neuter campaigns on St Kitts in 2011 (N = 68) and 2014 (N = 52). Sera from the 52 cats from 2014 were used to detect antibodies to Ehrlichia canis and Rickettsia rickettsii using indirect fluorescent antibody tests and DNA extracted from whole blood of a total of 119 cats (68 from 2011, and 51 from 2014) was used for PCRs for Babesia, Ehrlichia and Rickettsia. We could not amplify DNA of SFG Rickettsia in any of the samples but found DNA of E. canis in 5% (6/119), Babesia vogeli in 13% (15/119), Babesia gibsoni in 4% (5/119), mixed infections with B. gibsoni and B. vogeli in 3% (3/119), and a poorly characterized Babesia sp. in 1% (1/119). Overall, 10% of the 52 cats we tested by IFA for E. canis were positive while 42% we tested by indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) for R. rickettsii antigens were positive.ConclusionsOur study provides the first evidence that cats can be infected with B. gibsoni and also indicates that cats in the Caribbean may be commonly exposed to other vector-borne agents including SFGR, E. canis and B. vogeli. Animal health workers should be alerted to the possibility of clinical infections in their patients while public health workers should be alerted to the possibility that zoonotic SFGR are likely circulating in the region.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017