Abstract
Trypanosoma cruzi is a zoonotic parasite endemic in the southern US and the Americas, which may frequently infect dogs, but limited information is available about infections in cats. We surveyed a convenience sample of 284 shelter cats from Southern Louisiana to evaluate T. cruzi infection using serological and PCR tests. Parasites from PCR positive cats were also genotyped by PCR and deep sequencing to assess their genetic diversity. We detected a seropositivity rate for T. cruzi of at least 7.3% (17/234), and 24.6% of cats (70/284) were PCR positive for the parasite. Seropositivity increased with cat age (R2 = 0.91, P = 0.011), corresponding to an incidence of 7.2% ± 1.3 per year, while PCR positivity decreased with age (R2 = 0.93, P = 0.007). Cats were predominantly infected with parasites from TcI and TcVI DTUs, and to a lesser extent from TcIV and TcV DTUs, in agreement with the circulation of these parasite DTUs in local transmission cycles. These results indicate that veterinarians should have a greater awareness of T. cruzi infection in pets and that it would be important to better evaluate the risk for spillover infections in humans.
Highlights
Trypanosoma cruzi is a zoonotic parasite that can cause Chagas disease in humans
T. cruzi infection in cats Based on a total of 284 cat blood samples, we were able to run two antibody tests (Stat-pak rapid test and ELISA) on 234 samples
A total of 17/234 cats were confirmed seropositive for T. cruzi antibodies based on two reactive tests (7.3%, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) [4.6, 11.3])
Summary
Trypanosoma cruzi is a zoonotic parasite that can cause Chagas disease in humans. The parasite can infect a wide diversity of mammalian species and transmission among these hosts occurs through contact with infected feces from hematophagous triatomine bugs. In the US, the southern half of the country is endemic with well-established zoonotic cycles involving multiple species of triatomines [3] and multiple zoonotic, synantropic and domestic hosts, the extent of. Much less is known about T. cruzi infection in cats. A seroprevalence of infection of around 30% has been reported in domestic cat populations in Mexico and Argentina [22,23,24,25]. In the US, a survey in southern Texas found 11.4% seropositive cats, but only 1.8% were PCR positive for T. cruzi [26].
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