Evaluation of haemobartonellosis in pet cats in Ahvaz, Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Postgraduate, Department of Veterinary, Shoushtar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shoushtar, Iran

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary, Behbahan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Behbahan, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary, Shoushtar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shoushtar, Iran

Abstract

Mycoplasma haemofelis is the cause of infectious anemia among cats. Due to the asymptomatic nature of hemobartonella in the initial stage, the present study aimed to evaluate the incidence of hemobartonellosis and its related factors in domestic cats in Ahvaz, Iran. This cross-sectional study was performed to investigate the development of hemobartonella in 120 domestic cats referred to veterinary centers in Ahvaz city within 2021-2022. Factors, such as age, gender, race, castration, domesticity, and reasons for referring to the veterinary centers, as well as laboratory data of cats infected with hemobartonella infection, were compared with those of non-infected cats. The prevalence of hemobartonellosis in domestic cats in Ahvaz city was estimated at 13.3% (16 cases). The mean age of cats with hemobartonellosis was higher than those without hemobartonellosis (Z=-2.75, P=0.006). Lethargy and anorexia were the predominant reasons of referred to the veterinary centers among hemobartonellosis-infected cats (43.8%), followed by fever and neurological disorders (25%). No significant difference was found in terms of white blood cells (Z=-0.98, P=0.32), mean cell volume (Z=-1.17, P=0.24), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (Z=-0.34, P=0.73), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin (Z=-2.17, P=0.29). However, the levels of red cell distribution width (Z=-2.21, P=0.02) and red blood cell (Z=-4.57, P<0.005) were lower in cats infected with hemobartonellosis than in healthy cats. According to the results of the present study, the incidence rate of hemobartonellosis was 13.3% among domestic cats in Ahvaz city. Age was found the most important factor in the development of hemobartonellosis in domestic cats. Therefore, it is recommended to perform periodic monitoring of red blood cell counts through regular blood tests in older cats.

Keywords

References

  1. 1. Torkan S, Aldavood SJ, Rafie SM, Hejazi H, Shirani D, Momtaz H. Prevalence and risk factor analysis of Haemobartonella felis in cats using direct blood smear and PCR Comparative Clinical Pathology. 2013; 22(6): 1103-9.
  2. 2. Neimark H, Johansson KE, Rikihisa Y, Tully JG. Revision of haemotrophic Mycoplasma species names. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. 2002; 52(2): 683.
  3. 3. Satriawan I, Octaviani Haemobartonellosis in a Domestic Cat in Indonesia: a Case Study. Veterinary Biomedical and Clinical Journal. 2021; 3(2): 23-6.
  4. 4. Soto F, Walker R, Sepulveda M, Bittencourt P, Acosta-Jamett G, Müller A. Occurrence of canine hemotropic mycoplasmas in domestic dogs from urban and rural areas of the Valdivia Province, southern Chile. Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. 2017; 50: 70-7.
  5. 5. Wiebe VJ. Drug Therapy for Infectious Diseases of the Dog and Cat: Wiley; 2015.
  6. 6. Aslan Ö. Hemotropic mycoplasmas: From Haemobartonella to Mycoplasma. Journal of Advances in VetBio Science and Techniques. 2016; 1(1): 31-40.
  7. 7. Borji H, Razmi G, Ahmadi A, Karami H, Yaghfoori S, Abedi V. A survey on endoparasites and ectoparasites of stray cats from Mashhad (Iran) and association with risk factors. Journal of Parasitic Diseases. 2011; 35(2): 202-6.
  8. 8. Messick JB, Santos AP, Guimaraes AMS. Complete genome sequences of two hemotropic mycoplasmas, Mycoplasma haemofelis strain Ohio2 and Mycoplasma suis Strain Illinois. Am Soc Microbiol; 2011.
  9. 9. Ayllón T, Diniz PPV, Breitschwerdt EB, Villaescusa A, Rodríguez-Franco F, Sainz A. Vector-borne diseases in client-owned and stray cats from Madrid, Spain. Vector-borne and zoonotic diseases. 2012; 12(2): 143-50.
  10. 10. Oskoueizadeh K, Zahraei SM, Ale DS, Majlesi B, Ghafari H, Eshrafi TI, et al. Study in prevalence of Bartonella henselae infection in domestic cats from Tehran. 2008.
  11. 11. Tsai YL, Lin CC, Chomel BB, Chuang ST, Tsai KH, Wu WJ, et al. Bartonella infection in shelter cats and dogs and their ectoparasites. Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases. 2011; 11(8): 1023-30.
  12. 12. Liu Q, Eremeeva ME, Li D. Bartonella and Bartonella infections in China: from the clinic to the laboratory. Comparative immunology, microbiology and infectious diseases. 2012; 35(2): 93-102.
  13. 13. Stojanovic V, Foley Infectious disease prevalence in a feral cat population on Prince Edward Island, Canada. The Canadian Veterinary Journal. 2011; 52(9): 979.
  14. 14. Barrs V, Beatty J, Wilson B, Evans N, Gowan R, Baral R, et al. Prevalence of Bartonella species, Rickettsia felis, haemoplasmas and the Ehrlichia group in the blood of cats and fleas in eastern Australia. Australian veterinary journa 2010; 88(5): 160-5.
  15. 15. Akhtar Danesh B, Hosseini Hoshyar S, Moeini E, Hemmati Z. Molecular detection of Mycoplasma haemophilus infection in the population of stray cats in Kerman. Veterinary laboratory research. 2012; 4(1): 87.
  16. 16. Zhang Y, Zhang Z, Lou Y, Yu Y. Prevalence of hemoplasmas and Bartonella species in client-owned cats in Beijing and Shanghai, China. Journal of Veterinary Medical Science. 2021: 20-0681.
  17. 17. Shoorijeh SJ, Gaur S, Musavi A, Hydarpour A. Prevalence of Haemobartonella sp. in dog and cat population of Shiraz, Fars Province of Iran. Journal of Applied Animal Research. 1999; 16(1): 101-4.
  18. 18. Vahedi SM, Bolourchian M, Abolghasempour S, Fard RM, Akbarein H, Salehi TZ, et al. Molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of feline hemotropic mycoplasmas. Journal of Veterinary Research. 2014; 69(3): 213-7.
  19. 19. Ranjbar Bahadori S, Nooshirvani K, Shirani D. Study on incidence of haemobartonelosis in pet cats of Tehran. Journal of Veterinary Research. 2015; 70(1): 23-8.
  20. 20. Zibaee S, Mosalanezhad B, MJalali S, Bahrami S, Avizwh R. Incidence of haemobartonelosis in pet cats of Ahvaz city National Conference on Modern Veterinary Technologies 8th September 2021.
  21. 21. Tasker S, Braddock J, Baral R, Helps C, Day M, Gruffydd-Jones T, et al. Diagnosis of feline haemoplasma infection in Australian cats using a real-time PCR assay. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery. 2004; 6(6): 345-54.
  22. 22. Willi B, Boretti FS, Baumgartner C, Tasker S, Wenger B, Cattori V, et al. Prevalence, risk factor analysis, and follow-up of infections caused by three feline hemoplasma species in cats in Switzerland. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 2006; 44(3): 961-9.
  23. 23. Kurtdede A, Ural K. Haemobartonellosis of Cats in Ankara, Turkey. Acta Veterinaria Brno. 2004; 73(4): 507-12.
  24. 24. Hill T, Odesnik B. Omentalisation of perinephric pseudocysts in a cat. Journal of small animal practice. 2000; 41(3): 115-8.
New Findings in Veterinary Microbiology
Volume 5, Issue 1
June 2022
Pages 13-23

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 20 April 2022
  • Accept Date: 23 May 2022

Share

How to cite

Statistics