Ticks and associated pathogens collected from cats in Sicily and Calabria (Italy)
Pennisi, Maria-Grazia (Università di Messina. Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie)
Persichetti, Maria-Flaminia (Università di Messina. Dottorato di Ricerca Scienze Mediche Veterinarie)
Serrano, Lorena (Vetgenomics)
Altet Sanahujes, Laura (Vetgenomics)
Reale, Stefano (Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia)
Gulotta, Laura (Veterinary practitioner)
Solano Gallego, Laia (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals)

Data:	2015
Resum:	Limited information is available about the species of ticks infesting the cat and the pathogens that they harbor. The aims of the present study were to identify the species of ticks removed from cats living in Sicily and Calabria (Italy) and to detect DNA of vector-borne pathogens in the same ticks. Morphological identification of 132 adult ticks collected throughout the year from cats was carried out. Real-time PCRs for Hepatozoon felis, Piroplasmid, Ehrlichia/Anaplasma spp. , Rickettsia spp. , Bartonella spp. , Mycoplasma spp. and Leishmania infantum were performed from each individual tick. Ticks belonging to Rhipicephalus (R. sanguineus sensu lato, R. pusillus) and Ixodes (I. ricinus, I. ventalloi) genera were identified. Ixodes ventalloi was the most frequently found tick species (47 %). The positivity rate to at least one pathogen was 14. 4 % (19/132 ticks). Leishmania infantum, Rickettsia spp. (R. monacensis and R. helvetica), Bartonella spp. (B. clarridgeiae), Piroplasmid (Babesia vogeli), and Ehrlichia/Anaplasma spp. (E. canis) DNAs were amplified in 8. 3, 5. 3, 1. 5, 0. 75 and 0. 75 % of ticks, respectively. Hepatozoon felis, Anaplasma spp. and hemotropic Mycoplasma spp. DNAs were not detected. Four (21. 1 %) out of nineteen positive ticks were co-infected. This study provides novel data about ticks infesting cats and the DNA of pathogens that they harbor. In Southern Italy, anti-tick prophylaxis should be implemented throughout the year in cats without neglecting winter time.
Drets:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Llengua:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Matèria:	Tick ; Cat ; PCR ; Ehrlichia ; Rickettsia ; Bartonella ; Leishmania and Babesia
Publicat a:	Parasites & vectors, Vol. 8 (october 2015) , ISSN 1756-3305

DOI: 10.1186/s13071-015-1128-3
PMID: 26445916

5 p, 394.4 KB

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