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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2007, p. 3798-3802, Vol. 73, No. 12
0099-2240/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02977-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Real-Time PCR Investigation of Potential Vectors, Reservoirs, and Shedding Patterns of Feline Hemotropic Mycoplasmas{triangledown}

Barbara Willi,1 Felicitas S. Boretti,2 Marina L. Meli,1 Marco V. Bernasconi,3 Simona Casati,4 Daniel Hegglin,5 Maria Puorger,6 Harold Neimark,7 Valentino Cattori,1 Nicole Wengi,1 Claudia E. Reusch,2 Hans Lutz,1 and Regina Hofmann-Lehmann1*

Clinical Laboratory, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland,1 Clinic for Small Animal Internal Medicine, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland,2 Zoological Museum, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland,3 Istituto Cantonale di Microbiologia, Bellinzona, Switzerland,4 Institute of Parasitology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland,5 Institute of Veterinary Pathology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland,6 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, State University of New York, Brooklyn, New York7

Received 22 December 2006/ Accepted 16 April 2007

Three hemotropic mycoplasmas have been identified in pet cats: Mycoplasma haemofelis, "Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum," and "Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis." The way in which these agents are transmitted is largely unknown. Thus, this study aimed to investigate fleas, ticks, and rodents as well as saliva and feces from infected cats for the presence of hemotropic mycoplasmas, to gain insight into potential transmission routes for these agents. DNA was extracted from arthropods and from rodent blood or tissue samples from Switzerland and from salivary and fecal swabs from two experimentally infected and six naturally infected cats. All samples were analyzed with real-time PCR, and some positive samples were confirmed by sequencing. Feline hemotropic mycoplasmas were detected in cat fleas and in a few Ixodes sp. and Rhipicephalus sp. ticks collected from animals but not in ticks collected from vegetation or from rodent samples, although the latter were frequently Mycoplasma coccoides PCR positive. When shedding patterns of feline hemotropic mycoplasmas were investigated, "Ca. Mycoplasma turicensis" DNA was detected in saliva and feces at the early but not at the late phase of infection. M. haemofelis and "Ca. Mycoplasma haemominutum" DNA was not amplified from saliva and feces of naturally infected cats, despite high hemotropic mycoplasma blood loads. Our results suggest that besides an ostensibly indirect transmission by fleas, direct transmission through saliva and feces at the early phase of infection could play a role in the epizootiology of feline hemotropic mycoplasmas. Neither the investigated tick nor the rodent population seems to represent a major reservoir for feline hemotropic mycoplasmas in Switzerland.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Clinical Laboratory, Vetsuisse-Faculty, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 260, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland. Phone: 41 44 635 83 22. Fax: 41 44 635 89 23. E-mail: rhofmann{at}vetclinics.uzh.ch

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 27 April 2007.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2007, p. 3798-3802, Vol. 73, No. 12
0099-2240/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02977-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Boretti, F. S., Perreten, A., Meli, M. L., Cattori, V., Willi, B., Wengi, N., Hornok, S., Honegger, H., Hegglin, D., Woelfel, R., Reusch, C. E., Lutz, H., Hofmann-Lehmann, R. (2009). Molecular Investigations of Rickettsia helvetica Infection in Dogs, Foxes, Humans, and Ixodes Ticks. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75: 3230-3237 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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