Molecular evidence of Babesia in pet cats in mainland China

Abstract Background Babesia spp. are important emerging tick-borne protozoan hemoparasites, and pose a great impact on companion animals. Canine babesiosis has been well described worldwide, while felis babesiosis has primarily been reported from South Africa. To the best of our knowledge, Babesia s...

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Main Authors: Xue-Lian Zhang, Xiao-Wen Li, Wen-Jun Li, Hui-Lan Huang, Shu-Jian Huang, Jian-Wei Shao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2019-12-01
Series:BMC Veterinary Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-019-2214-0
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spelling doaj-4e7c43ed66d649d7b0dc42af9d1c75552021-01-03T12:07:26ZengBMCBMC Veterinary Research1746-61482019-12-011511510.1186/s12917-019-2214-0Molecular evidence of Babesia in pet cats in mainland ChinaXue-Lian Zhang0Xiao-Wen Li1Wen-Jun Li2Hui-Lan Huang3Shu-Jian Huang4Jian-Wei Shao5Key Laboratory for Preventive Research of Emerging Animal Diseases, Foshan UniversityCollege of Life Science and Engineering, Foshan UniversityCollege of Life Science and Engineering, Foshan UniversityCollege of Life Science and Engineering, Foshan UniversityKey Laboratory for Preventive Research of Emerging Animal Diseases, Foshan UniversityCollege of Life Science and Engineering, Foshan UniversityAbstract Background Babesia spp. are important emerging tick-borne protozoan hemoparasites, and pose a great impact on companion animals. Canine babesiosis has been well described worldwide, while felis babesiosis has primarily been reported from South Africa. To the best of our knowledge, Babesia spp. infections in dogs have been well elucidated in pet dog population in China, no report about Babesia spp. infection in cat population in mainland China. Results In this study, a total of 203 blood samples were collected from pet cats in Shenzhen city, and detected the presence of Babesia spp. with nested-PCR. Sequence comparison based on the 18S rRNA gene and ITS region revealed that three cats (1.48%) were infected with Babesia. vogeli. Notably, the sequences of ITS region obtained in this study shared the highest nucleotide identity with the sequence of B. vogeli strain isolated in cat from Taiwan. Conclusions This study is the first report about babesiosis in domestic cats, and also provides molecular evidence of Babesia spp. infection in cat in mainland China. The data present in this study suggest B. vogeli may be circulating in cat population in mainland China. Further study to investigate the epidemiology of Babesia infection in cat nationwide is warranted.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-019-2214-0Molecular evidenceBabesia. vogeliPet catsMainland China
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Xue-Lian Zhang
Xiao-Wen Li
Wen-Jun Li
Hui-Lan Huang
Shu-Jian Huang
Jian-Wei Shao
spellingShingle Xue-Lian Zhang
Xiao-Wen Li
Wen-Jun Li
Hui-Lan Huang
Shu-Jian Huang
Jian-Wei Shao
Molecular evidence of Babesia in pet cats in mainland China
BMC Veterinary Research
Molecular evidence
Babesia. vogeli
Pet cats
Mainland China
author_facet Xue-Lian Zhang
Xiao-Wen Li
Wen-Jun Li
Hui-Lan Huang
Shu-Jian Huang
Jian-Wei Shao
author_sort Xue-Lian Zhang
title Molecular evidence of Babesia in pet cats in mainland China
title_short Molecular evidence of Babesia in pet cats in mainland China
title_full Molecular evidence of Babesia in pet cats in mainland China
title_fullStr Molecular evidence of Babesia in pet cats in mainland China
title_full_unstemmed Molecular evidence of Babesia in pet cats in mainland China
title_sort molecular evidence of babesia in pet cats in mainland china
publisher BMC
series BMC Veterinary Research
issn 1746-6148
publishDate 2019-12-01
description Abstract Background Babesia spp. are important emerging tick-borne protozoan hemoparasites, and pose a great impact on companion animals. Canine babesiosis has been well described worldwide, while felis babesiosis has primarily been reported from South Africa. To the best of our knowledge, Babesia spp. infections in dogs have been well elucidated in pet dog population in China, no report about Babesia spp. infection in cat population in mainland China. Results In this study, a total of 203 blood samples were collected from pet cats in Shenzhen city, and detected the presence of Babesia spp. with nested-PCR. Sequence comparison based on the 18S rRNA gene and ITS region revealed that three cats (1.48%) were infected with Babesia. vogeli. Notably, the sequences of ITS region obtained in this study shared the highest nucleotide identity with the sequence of B. vogeli strain isolated in cat from Taiwan. Conclusions This study is the first report about babesiosis in domestic cats, and also provides molecular evidence of Babesia spp. infection in cat in mainland China. The data present in this study suggest B. vogeli may be circulating in cat population in mainland China. Further study to investigate the epidemiology of Babesia infection in cat nationwide is warranted.
topic Molecular evidence
Babesia. vogeli
Pet cats
Mainland China
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-019-2214-0
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