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Molecular survey on vector-borne pathogens in clinically healthy stray cats in Zaragoza (Spain)

BACKGROUND: In Europe, feline vector-borne infections are gaining importance because of the changing climate, expanding habitats of potential vectors and expanding pathogen reservoirs. The main objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of vector-borne pathogens (VBPs) in stray cats in Zar...

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Autores principales: Villanueva-Saz, Sergio, Martínez, Marivi, Nijhof, Ard M., Gerst, Bastian, Gentil, Michaela, Müller, Elisabeth, Fernández, Antonio, González, Ana, Yusuf, Mohamed Sh. Mohamud, Greco, Grazia, Verde, Maite, Sgroi, Giovanni, Lacasta, Delia, Marteles, Diana, Trotta, Michele, Schäfer, Ingo
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10662132/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37986028
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13071-023-06046-y
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author Villanueva-Saz, Sergio
Martínez, Marivi
Nijhof, Ard M.
Gerst, Bastian
Gentil, Michaela
Müller, Elisabeth
Fernández, Antonio
González, Ana
Yusuf, Mohamed Sh. Mohamud
Greco, Grazia
Verde, Maite
Sgroi, Giovanni
Lacasta, Delia
Marteles, Diana
Trotta, Michele
Schäfer, Ingo
author_facet Villanueva-Saz, Sergio
Martínez, Marivi
Nijhof, Ard M.
Gerst, Bastian
Gentil, Michaela
Müller, Elisabeth
Fernández, Antonio
González, Ana
Yusuf, Mohamed Sh. Mohamud
Greco, Grazia
Verde, Maite
Sgroi, Giovanni
Lacasta, Delia
Marteles, Diana
Trotta, Michele
Schäfer, Ingo
author_sort Villanueva-Saz, Sergio
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: In Europe, feline vector-borne infections are gaining importance because of the changing climate, expanding habitats of potential vectors and expanding pathogen reservoirs. The main objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of vector-borne pathogens (VBPs) in stray cats in Zaragoza, Spain, and to investigate potential risk factors for infection, including feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV). METHODS: Blood samples from stray cats presented to the veterinary faculty in Zaragoza between February 2020 and 2022 were tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the presence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Anaplasma platys, Bartonella henselae, Ehrlichia canis, Rickettsia spp., haemotropic Mycoplasma spp., Hepatozoon spp., Leishmania infantum, piroplasms and microfilariae at the LABOKLIN laboratory. The cats were also tested for FeLV and FIV by PCR. RESULTS: Nearly half of the cats (158/332, 47.6%) were positive for at least one VBP. Hepatozoon spp. were detected in 25.6%, haemotropic Mycoplasma spp. in 22.9%, B. henselae in 9.3% and L. infantum in 2.1% of the cats. Male sex had a statistically significant association with test results for haemotropic Mycoplasma spp. (odds ratio 1.38 [1.21;1.57]); regionality with Hepatozoon spp., B. henseale and FIV; and seasonality with Hepatozoon spp., haemotropic Mycoplasma spp., L. infantum and FeLV (P ≤ 0.05 each). A strong positive correlation was reported for the amount of rainfall and the number of cats that tested positive for Hepatozoon spp. (ρ = 753, P = 0.05). None of the cats tested positive for A. phagocytophilum, A. platys, E. canis, Rickettsia spp., piroplasms, or microfilariae. Co-infections with multiple VBPs were detected in 56 out of 332 cats (16.9%). Thirty-one of the 332 cats included in the study (9.3%) tested positive for FeLV (6.9%) and for FIV (3.6%). In 20/31 cats (64.5%) that tested positive for FeLV/FIV, coinfections with VBP were detected (P = 0.048, OR 2.15 [0.99; 4.64]). CONCLUSIONS: VBPs were frequently detected in stray cats in Zaragoza. In particular, regionality and seasonality had a statistically significant association with PCR results for most VBPs included in the study. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13071-023-06046-y.
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spelling pubmed-106621322023-11-20 Molecular survey on vector-borne pathogens in clinically healthy stray cats in Zaragoza (Spain) Villanueva-Saz, Sergio Martínez, Marivi Nijhof, Ard M. Gerst, Bastian Gentil, Michaela Müller, Elisabeth Fernández, Antonio González, Ana Yusuf, Mohamed Sh. Mohamud Greco, Grazia Verde, Maite Sgroi, Giovanni Lacasta, Delia Marteles, Diana Trotta, Michele Schäfer, Ingo Parasit Vectors Research BACKGROUND: In Europe, feline vector-borne infections are gaining importance because of the changing climate, expanding habitats of potential vectors and expanding pathogen reservoirs. The main objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of vector-borne pathogens (VBPs) in stray cats in Zaragoza, Spain, and to investigate potential risk factors for infection, including feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV). METHODS: Blood samples from stray cats presented to the veterinary faculty in Zaragoza between February 2020 and 2022 were tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the presence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Anaplasma platys, Bartonella henselae, Ehrlichia canis, Rickettsia spp., haemotropic Mycoplasma spp., Hepatozoon spp., Leishmania infantum, piroplasms and microfilariae at the LABOKLIN laboratory. The cats were also tested for FeLV and FIV by PCR. RESULTS: Nearly half of the cats (158/332, 47.6%) were positive for at least one VBP. Hepatozoon spp. were detected in 25.6%, haemotropic Mycoplasma spp. in 22.9%, B. henselae in 9.3% and L. infantum in 2.1% of the cats. Male sex had a statistically significant association with test results for haemotropic Mycoplasma spp. (odds ratio 1.38 [1.21;1.57]); regionality with Hepatozoon spp., B. henseale and FIV; and seasonality with Hepatozoon spp., haemotropic Mycoplasma spp., L. infantum and FeLV (P ≤ 0.05 each). A strong positive correlation was reported for the amount of rainfall and the number of cats that tested positive for Hepatozoon spp. (ρ = 753, P = 0.05). None of the cats tested positive for A. phagocytophilum, A. platys, E. canis, Rickettsia spp., piroplasms, or microfilariae. Co-infections with multiple VBPs were detected in 56 out of 332 cats (16.9%). Thirty-one of the 332 cats included in the study (9.3%) tested positive for FeLV (6.9%) and for FIV (3.6%). In 20/31 cats (64.5%) that tested positive for FeLV/FIV, coinfections with VBP were detected (P = 0.048, OR 2.15 [0.99; 4.64]). CONCLUSIONS: VBPs were frequently detected in stray cats in Zaragoza. In particular, regionality and seasonality had a statistically significant association with PCR results for most VBPs included in the study. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13071-023-06046-y. BioMed Central 2023-11-20 /pmc/articles/PMC10662132/ /pubmed/37986028 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13071-023-06046-y Text en © The Author(s) 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) . The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) ) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.
spellingShingle Research
Villanueva-Saz, Sergio
Martínez, Marivi
Nijhof, Ard M.
Gerst, Bastian
Gentil, Michaela
Müller, Elisabeth
Fernández, Antonio
González, Ana
Yusuf, Mohamed Sh. Mohamud
Greco, Grazia
Verde, Maite
Sgroi, Giovanni
Lacasta, Delia
Marteles, Diana
Trotta, Michele
Schäfer, Ingo
Molecular survey on vector-borne pathogens in clinically healthy stray cats in Zaragoza (Spain)
title Molecular survey on vector-borne pathogens in clinically healthy stray cats in Zaragoza (Spain)
title_full Molecular survey on vector-borne pathogens in clinically healthy stray cats in Zaragoza (Spain)
title_fullStr Molecular survey on vector-borne pathogens in clinically healthy stray cats in Zaragoza (Spain)
title_full_unstemmed Molecular survey on vector-borne pathogens in clinically healthy stray cats in Zaragoza (Spain)
title_short Molecular survey on vector-borne pathogens in clinically healthy stray cats in Zaragoza (Spain)
title_sort molecular survey on vector-borne pathogens in clinically healthy stray cats in zaragoza (spain)
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10662132/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37986028
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13071-023-06046-y
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