Abstract
BackgroundAlthough reported sporadically from various countries, feline babesiosis appears to be a significant clinical entity only in South Africa, where Babesia felis is usually incriminated as the causative agent. Babesia lengau, recently described from asymptomatic cheetahs, has now possibly been incriminated as the causative agent in two severe clinical cases in domestic cats.FindingsBoth cats were euthanised in extremis. While typical feline babesiosis in South Africa is an afebrile disease with a chronic manifestation, there was acute onset of severe clinical signs in both cats and their body temperatures were above the normal range when they were presented for treatment. Haemolytic anaemia was confirmed in one case. To our knowledge, this is the first report of cerebral babesiosis in cats.On reverse line blot 18S rDNA PCR products obtained from both cats showed positive hybridization profiles with the B. lengau species-specific probe. The two partial parasite 18S rRNA gene sequences obtained, showed high sequence similarity (99.9%) to B. lengau. In a representative tree constructed by the neighbor-joining method using the two-parameter model of Kimura the two obtained partial 18S rDNA sequences and that of B. lengau formed a monophyletic group with B. conradae and sequences previously isolated from humans and wildlife in the western USA.ConclusionAll clinical cases of feline babesiosis in South Africa are not necessarily caused by B. felis. Other piroplasms, e.g. B. lengau, may be incriminated in clinical cases, especially those occurring outside the known endemic area.
Highlights
Reported sporadically from various countries, feline babesiosis appears to be a significant clinical entity only in South Africa, where Babesia felis is usually incriminated as the causative agent
E.g. B. lengau, may be incriminated in clinical cases, especially those occurring outside the known endemic area
The piroplasm usually incriminated as causing feline babesiosis in South Africa, was initially described from a Sudanese wild cat
Summary
All clinical cases of feline babesiosis in South Africa are not necessarily caused by B. felis. The identity of the Babesia species involved should ideally be confirmed by molecular techniques when specimens from suspected feline babesiosis cases are submitted to diagnostic laboratories. Authors’ contributions AMB carried out the molecular genetic studies, participated in the sequence alignment and wrote the first draft of the manuscript; MCO supervised the laboratory work and participated in the sequence alignment and construction of the phylogenetic trees; EHV co-supervised the laboratory work; JCAS and TAG performed the necropsies and histological diagnostic investigation on Cases 1 and 2, respectively; BLP coordinated the investigation, conducted literature searches and wrote the final version of the report. All authors read and approved the final manuscript
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