Abstract
The co-occurrence of domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus) and wild felids in rural landscapes can facilitate pathogen transmission. However, in the relatively-isolated regions of southern South America there have been no comprehensive studies to assess disease transmission risks between domestic cats and forest-dwelling wild felids such as guigna (Leopardus guigna). We evaluated hemoplasma infection and the possibility of transmission between domestic cats and guignas by comparing spatial and phylogenetic patterns of pathogen prevalence. Blood/spleen samples were collected from 102 wild guignas and 262 co-occurring rural domestic cats across the entire distribution range of guigna in Chile. Hemoplasma infection was assessed by direct sequencing of the 16S RNA gene. Infection with hemoplasmas was common and geographically widespread across different bioclimatic areas for both species. The most common feline Mycoplasma species in guigna and domestic cats were Candidatus M. haemominutum (CMhm) (15.7% guigna; 10.3% domestic cat) and Mycoplasma haemofelis (Mhf) (9.8% guigna, 6.1% domestic cat). A previously undescribed Mycoplasma sp. sequence was found in two guignas and one cat. Continuous forest-landscapes were associated with higher hemoplasma-prevalence in guignas. Shared hemoplasma nucleotide sequence types between guigna and domestic cats were rare, suggesting that cross-species transmission between guignas and domestic cats may occur, but is probably uncommon. Ectoparasites, which have been linked with hemoplasma transmission, were not found on guignas and were infrequent on domestic cats. Our results suggest that transmission pathways vary among hemoplasma species and, contrary to our predictions, domestic cats did not appear to be the main driver of hemoplasma infection in guignas in these human-dominated landscapes.
Highlights
Anthropogenic landscape change has been identified to be one of the main drivers of pathogen emergence in wildlife[1], because of the increased opportunities for cross-species pathogen transmission among domestic
16 guignas (15.7%, 95% confidence intervals (CIs) = 8.5–22.86%) and 27 domestic cats (10.3%, 95% CI = 6.6–14.01%) had Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum (CMhm), based on both matches with GenBank sequences (Table 2) and by species-specific PCR
Ten different nucleotide sequence type (ntST) corresponding to CMhm were identified (Table 3), four of which were found solely in guigna (Table 3) and six only in domestic cats
Summary
Anthropogenic landscape change has been identified to be one of the main drivers of pathogen emergence in wildlife[1], because of the increased opportunities for cross-species pathogen transmission among domestic. Domestic cats and wild felids, which share a common ancestor a relatively recent 10 million-years ago[4], often share genetic, physiological and ecological traits and share similar susceptibility to many infectious agents[2]. Hemoplasma infection with CMhm, Mhf and/or CMt has been reported worldwide, including in tigers (Panthera tigris), Iberian lynx, leopard cat Cat fights could be a route of hemoplasma transmission since subcutaneous inoculation of CMt infected blood in laboratory settings resulted in transmission, whereas saliva did not[32] If this were common, transmission by aggressive interaction would be more likely than transmission by social contact (saliva via mutual grooming)[32]. It has been suggested that blood transfusions might be a potential route of transmission[34]
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