Abstract
Feline Bartonella can be transmitted to humans through cat scratches or bites, and between cats, by the flea Ctenocephalides felis. The study was carried out in order to investigate the occurrence of Bartonella DNA in cats living in shelters and their ectoparasites and the relationship between the infection status of cats and ectoparasites they host. Bartonella DNA was detected in 47.8% of the cat blood samples, 18.3% of C. felis fleas, 13.3% of flea egg pools and 12.5% of lice pools. B. henselae and B. clarridgeiae DNA were detected in cat fleas, while B. henselae, B. clarridgeiae and B. koehlerae were found in blood samples from bacteremic cats. Cats infested by positive ectoparasites showed approximately twice the odds of being infected. Our results indicate that shelter cats have high prevalence of Bartonella species that are known to be human pathogens. This highlights the importance of controlling infestations by ectoparasites to avoid cat and human infection.
Highlights
In the light of One Health concepts, studies on bartonellosis are important because the bacterial genus Bartonella can infect a wide variety of animals
Transmission between cats most often occurs via the flea Ctenocephalides felis (Chomel et al, 1996; Kordick et al, 1999; Guptill, 2012), which is a competent vector of B. henselae and a potential vector of B. clarridgeiae and B. koehlerae (Chomel et al, 1996; Tsai et al, 2011)
All flea and lice specimens were identified as adults of Ctenocephalides felis and Felicola subrostratus, respectively
Summary
In the light of One Health concepts, studies on bartonellosis are important because the bacterial genus Bartonella can infect a wide variety of animals. This genus is being linked to an ever-increasing number of human diseases that are transmitted by arthropod vectors (Regier et al, 2016). Most Bartonella species infecting humans are zoonotic, and cats appear to be the primary mammalian reservoir for B. henselae, B. clarridgeiae and B. koehlerae (Boulouis et al, 2005). Transmission between cats most often occurs via the flea Ctenocephalides felis (Chomel et al, 1996; Kordick et al, 1999; Guptill, 2012), which is a competent vector of B. henselae and a potential vector of B. clarridgeiae and B. koehlerae (Chomel et al, 1996; Tsai et al, 2011)
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