Abstract
BackgroundIn recent years, several clinical cases and epidemiological studies of feline vector-borne diseases (FVBD) have been reported worldwide. Nonetheless, information on FVBD agents and their prevalence in Portugal is scarce.MethodsThree-hundred and twenty domestic cats presented to 30 veterinary medical centres in the north and centre regions of Portugal were randomly sampled. Blood was assayed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for genera Anaplasma/Ehrlichia, genus Babesia, Hepatozoon canis, Hepatozoon felis, Leishmania infantum and the genus Rickettsia. Babesia-positive samples were further tested for Babesia canis and Babesia vogeli.ResultsEighty (25.0%) out of the 320 cats were positive to at least one vector-borne agent, including seven (2.2%) cats co-infected with two agents. Two cats (0.6%) were infected with Anaplasma/Ehrlichia spp., four (1.3%) with B. canis, 26 (8.1%) with B. vogeli, 50 (15.6%) with H. felis, one (0.3%) with L. infantum and four (1.3%) with Rickettsia spp. No cat tested positive for H. canis. One cat (0.3%) was co-infected with B. canis and B. vogeli, three (0.9%) with B. vogeli and H. felis, one (0.3%) with H. felis and L. infantum, and two (0.6%) with H. felis and Rickettsia spp.ConclusionsA considerable prevalence of infection with vector-borne pathogens among the domestic feline population of the north and centre of Portugal has been revealed by the present study. Additionally, this is the first detection of B. vogeli in cats from Europe and of H. felis in cats from Portugal.
Highlights
In recent years, several clinical cases and epidemiological studies of feline vector-borne diseases (FVBD) have been reported worldwide
The aims of the present study were to identify the presence and prevalence of vector-borne agents from genera Anaplasma, Babesia, Ehrlichia, Hepatozoon, Leishmania and Rickettsia in cats from the north and centre regions of Portugal, by means of real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and to identify risk factors associated with infection
Eighty cats (25.0%) were qPCR positive to at least one of the tested agents, including seven (2.2%) cats coinfected with two agents
Summary
Several clinical cases and epidemiological studies of feline vector-borne diseases (FVBD) have been reported worldwide. Vector-borne diseases compromise a variety of infectious illnesses caused by several agents, including viruses, bacteria, protozoa and helminthes, which are transmitted by ticks, fleas, mosquitoes and phlebotomine sand flies [1,2] Many of these agents are emerging or re-emerging pathogens [3] and some of them are of zoonotic concern [4,5]. Several vector-borne agents cause morbidity and mortality in the domestic feline population [8], the importance of some of them as a cause of disease has not yet been clearly determined [9] This lack of knowledge, associated with the unawareness of the distribution and ecology of feline vector-borne diseases (FVBD) of zoonotic concern, has impaired the implementation of effective control measures to prevent infection of cats, other animals and human beings [1]. Compared with the conventional method, real-time PCR can have a higher sensitivity in some diseases [14] and is a useful tool both for diagnosis and treatment monitoring [13]
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