Prevalence of haemoplasma infection in pet cats from 4 different provinces in Turkey

Ural K., Kurtdede A., Ulutas B.

REVUE DE MEDECINE VETERINAIRE, vol.160, no.5, pp.226-230, 2009 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 160 Issue: 5
  • Publication Date: 2009
  • Journal Name: REVUE DE MEDECINE VETERINAIRE
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.226-230
  • Keywords: Cat, Haemoplasmosis, PCR assay, Cytological analysis, Turkey, CANDIDATUS MYCOPLASMA HAEMOMINUTUM, POLYMERASE-CHAIN-REACTION, HAEMOBARTONELLA-FELIS, HAEMOFELIS, HEMOBARTONELLOSIS, EPERYTHROZOON, ANEMIA, ASSAY
  • Ankara University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

The haemoplasmosis prevalence was investigated in 217 cats (102 healthy and 115 diseased cats with various clinical signs) stemming from 4 provinces of Turkey (Bursa, Izmir, Ankara and Antalya) using cytological examination (Romanowsky stain) and PCR assay. Whereas only 13.36% of cats were positively diagnosed for haemoplasmosis by cytology, the PCR assay has efficiently increased diagnostic gains (positive and negative predictive values were 0.996 and 1.000, respectively). In this way, the prevalence for haemoplasma in the total feline population studied was 18.9%; the diseased cats (27.8%) were significantly more affected than healthy cats (8.8%) and 100% of animals with clinical signs compatible with haemoplasmosis were PCR positive. Besides, the proportion of non anaemic positive cats were also relatively elevated (23.9%) and no significant geographical influence on haemoplasmosis frequency was observed. Furthermore, only Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum was evidenced by the PCR assay in the 4 regions. These results demonstrated that PCR assay was a more reliable method than Romanowsky staining for detecting and identifying haemoplasmosis and that this infection appears relatively common in pet cats.