Molecular detection of vector-borne agents in cats in Southern Brazil

Abstract

This study used serological and molecular methods to investigate the occurrence of vector-borne pathogens (VBP) with zoonotic potential in cats neutered at the University Veterinary Hospital in Canoinhas, Santa Catarina. The combined PCR and serological results revealed that 17 (56.6%) cats were positive for one or more pathogens. The sampled cats had antibodies to Ehrlichia spp. (7/30), Anaplasma phagocytophilum (3/30) and Leishmania infantum (2/30). The PCR assay detected DNA closely related to Ehrlichia canis in 6/30 cats, Mycoplasma haemofelis in 2/30 cats, A. phagocytophilum and Cytauxzoon sp. in one cat each. While Bartonella clarridgeiae and B. henselae were detected in two cats each, and B. koehlerae was detected in one cat.

Investigation of Bartonella spp. in brazilian mammals with emphasis on rodents and bats from the Atlantic Forest

“…There are many Bartonella genotypes described in Brazilian mammals, primarily rodents and bats ( André et al, 2019b ; do Amaral et al, 2018 ; de Sousa et al, 2018 ; Ferreira et al, 2018 ; Rozental et al, 2017 ; Ikeda et al, 2017 ; Gonçalves et al, 2016a ). In the present study, we analyzed not only the Bartonella genotypes found in the rodents and bats specimens collected, but also included the data from the other genotypes described in these and in other mammals from wild and domestic environments in Brazil ( André et al, 2014 , 2019a ; Gonçalves et al, 2020 ; Pedrassani et al, 2019 ; Silva et al, 2019 ; Calchi et al, 2020 ; Miceli et al, 2013 ; Filoni et al, 2012 ).…”

“…Tokpelaia hoelldoblerii ( Segers et al, 2017 ) were used as the outgroups. The final alignments of the gltA (718 bps), ftsZ (788 bps), and groEL (798 bps), and the Brazilian genotypes of each gene were included in the analyses ( Gonçalves et al, 2020 ; Calchi et al, 2020 ; André et al, 2019a ; André et al, 2019b ; Pedrassani et al, 2019 ; Silva et al, 2019 ; do Amaral et al, 2018 ; de Sousa et al, 2018 ; Ferreira et al, 2018 ; Rozental et al, 2017 ; Ikeda et al, 2017 ; Gonçalves et al, 2016a ; Diniz et al, 2016 ; André et al, 2014 ; Miceli et al, 2013 ; Filoni et al, 2012 ). All the sequences were aligned using the MAFFT v7.388 algorithm for each sequenced gene ( Katoh and Standley, 2013 ).…”

Epidemiological and diagnostic aspects of feline leishmaniasis with emphasis on Brazil: a narrative review

“…L. amazonensis has been reported in cats from endemic municipalities in the Midwest, Mato Grosso do Sul state (Souza et al 2005), and in the North, Pará state (Carneiro et al 2020). L. infantum, on the other hand, has been reported in 12 of the 27 states of Brazil, with a lesser number in regions not endemic for VL (Savani et al 2004;Braga et al 2014b;Benassi et al 2017;Pedrassani et al 2019), and mostly in endemic regions (Fig. 1) (Silva et al 2008;Coelho et al 2010;Coelho et al 2011a;Vides et al 2011;Sobrinho et al 2012;Morais et al 2013;Silva et al 2014;Sousa et al 2014;Metzdorf et al 2017;Coura et al 2018;Marcondes et al 2018;Rocha et al 2019;Costa-Val et al 2020;Berenguer et al 2020;Silva et al 2020).…”

First Case of Clinical Cat Aelurostrongylosis in the Brazilian Amazon: Clinical and Molecular Insights

“…As similar examples, in the last decade, novel strains of tick-borne agents of felids have been identified in Brazil [ 60 ] and in Europe [ 61 , 62 ]. Arthropod-borne diseases are highly enzootic and circulate between domestic and wild felids of Brazil and Europe, where they can also be shared with canids living in sympatry [ 60 , 61 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 ]. Therefore, further studies are necessary to investigate any genetic variability in A. abstrusus isolates which infect domestic cats and wildlife living in Amazonia and Brazil and if, as for other metastrongylid nematodes and arthropod-borne pathogens, there is a potential impact on their genetic make-up by bridging infections between different animal species.…”