Worldwide occurrence of feline hemoplasma infections in wild felid species

Willi, Barbara; Filoni, Claudia; Catão-Dias, José L; Cattori, Valentino; Meli, Marina L; Vargas, Astrid; Martínez, Fernando; Roelke, Melody E; Ryser-Degiorgis, Marie-Pierre; Leutenegger, Christian M; Lutz, Hans; Hofmann-Lehmann, Regina (2007). Worldwide occurrence of feline hemoplasma infections in wild felid species. Journal of clinical microbiology, 45(4), pp. 1159-1166. Washington, D.C.: American Society for Microbiology 10.1128/JCM.02005-06

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While hemoplasma infections in domestic cats are well studied, almost no information is available on their occurrence in wild felids. The aims of the present study were to investigate wild felid species as possible reservoirs of feline hemoplasmas and the molecular characterization of the hemoplasma isolates. Blood samples from the following 257 wild felids were analyzed: 35 Iberian lynxes from Spain, 36 Eurasian lynxes from Switzerland, 31 European wildcats from France, 45 lions from Tanzania, and 110 Brazilian wild felids, including 12 wild felid species kept in zoos and one free-ranging ocelot. Using real-time PCR, feline hemoplasmas were detected in samples of the following species: Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx, European wildcat, lion, puma, oncilla, Geoffroy's cat, margay, and ocelot. "Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum" was the most common feline hemoplasma in Iberian lynxes, Eurasian lynxes, Serengeti lions, and Brazilian wild felids, whereas "Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis" was the most prevalent in European wildcats; hemoplasma coinfections were frequently observed. Hemoplasma infection was associated with species and free-ranging status of the felids in all animals and with feline leukemia virus provirus-positive status in European wildcats. Phylogenetic analyses of the 16S rRNA and the partial RNase P gene revealed that most hemoplasma isolates exhibit high sequence identities to domestic cat-derived isolates, although some isolates form different subclusters within the phylogenetic tree. In conclusion, 9 out of 15 wild felid species from three different continents were found to be infected with feline hemoplasmas. The effect of feline hemoplasma infections on wild felid populations needs to be further investigated.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology (DIP) > Institute for Fish and Wildlife Health (FIWI)
UniBE Contributor:	Ryser, Marie Pierre
Subjects:	600 Technology > 630 Agriculture
ISSN:	0095-1137
Publisher:	American Society for Microbiology
Language:	English
Submitter:	Factscience Import
Date Deposited:	04 Oct 2013 14:53
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 14:16
Publisher DOI:	10.1128/JCM.02005-06
PubMed ID:	17301277
Web of Science ID:	000245779300013
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/22689 (FactScience: 36006)