Detection of enteric agents into a cats’ shelter with cases of chronic diarrhea in Southern Brazil

Abstract

This study carried out a survey about enteropathogenic agents in domestic cats’ shelter as a stage of investigation for the intermittent chronic diarrhea. Individual fecal samples from 39 cats with free access to the external environment were submitted to parasitological examination, parvovirus, and coronavirus by PCR, and Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia spp. and Tritrichomonas foetus by real-time PCR. From the cats evaluated, 30 (76.9%) were positive for one or more enteric agents, and coinfections were observed in 11 cats samples (28.2%). Helminth eggs were observed in 48.7% of cats (19/30), 16 (41%) were positive for parvovirus or coronavirus and 25.6% (10/30) were infected by protozoa. From the positives for protozoa, five cats were positive to T. foetus (12.82%). The first finding of this protozoan through PCR was in the southern Brazil, and the second was in the whole country. Chronic diarrhea in cats may be multifactorial in shelter animals where the population density is high and the control of parasitic, and viral infections are deficient. Moreover, it is due to poor hygiene conditions in these shelters. The factors associated with the proliferation of infectious diseases in shelters are correlated with new pathogens infections such as T. foetus.

Parasites of Zoonotic Interest Detected in Felis catus domesticus in Midwestern Brazil

“…Infection by Ancylostoma helminths was the most frequent, at 65.2% (137/210), followed by Platynosomum concinnum, at 21.0% (44/210). The high prevalence of parasitosis found in the present study was within the 31.5-100% range reported for different Brazilian regions (COELHO et al, 2009;COLOGNESI et al, 2018;DALL'AGNOL et al, 2010;FERRAZ et al, 2019;FUNADA et al, 2007;MÓSENA et al, 2019;PIVOTO et al, 2013;;RAMOS et al, 2020;SERRA et al, 2003).…”

“…In Brazil, the prevalence of Giardia sp. in animals ranges from 5.0 to 38.1% (BRINKER et al, 2009;COELHO et al, 2009;DALL'AGNOL et al, 2010;FERREIRA et al, 2013;FERRAZ et al, 2019;FUNADA et al, 2007;MORAES et al, 2019;MÓSENA et al, 2019), but rates are known to depend on geography and detection method, as well as on the animals' age, habits, and clinical condition (BALLWEBER et al, 2010).…”

El tercer gran salto: los coronavirus animales en América Latina

“…En nuestra región se reportan diversos estudios seroepidemiológicos. En Brasil, diversos trabajos refieren una amplia distribución de estos coronavirus en las poblaciones felinas (Johann et al, 2009;Mósena et al, 2019). En Colombia, por su parte, se encontraron seroprevalencias altas cercanas al 85 %, correspondientes al serotipo tipo I, en gatos de albergues (Delgado Villamizar, 2018).…”