Prevalence of selected infectious agents in Swedish cats with fever and/or anemia compared to cats without fever and/or anemia and to stable/stray cats.

Abstract

Background: There are multiple infectious agents of cats around the world; those transmitted by direct contact among cats, hunting, or exposure to fleas or ticks are frequently the most common. Some infectious disease agents have been reported in cats in Sweden; for example, Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection was first reported in a cat in this country. However, there has not been a study in Sweden that reported test results for agents with different transmission cycles in cats with and without signs of clinical disease. Thus, the aims of this study were to (i) investigate prevalence of exposure to Anaplasma species, Bartonella species, Ehrlichia species, haemotropic Mycoplasma species, feline foamy virus (FFV), Felis catus gammaherpesvirus (FcaGHV1), feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and Toxoplasma gondii in cats residing in the Southern part of Sweden (ii) compare prevalence in samples between 3 groups of cats (cats with fever and/or anemia, cats without any signs of infectious disease, and cats that were either stray cats or stable cats).

Results: Overall, antibodies were detected against FcaGHV1 (67%, CI 57-76%), FFV (45%, CI 35-55%), Bartonella species (43%, CI 34-54%), T. gondii (37%. CI 28-47%), and FIV (3.3%, CI 1.1-9.2%). FeLV antigen was detected in one cat (1.1%, CI 0.19-5.9%). Haemotropic Mycoplasma DNA was amplified in seven cats (7.6%, CI 3.7-15%). All five samples with successful sequencing were 'Candidatus M. haemominutum'. The one cat (1.1%, CI 0.19-5.9%) that was positive for B. henselae DNA also had a Bartonella spp. titer of 1:1024. Anaplasma and Ehrlichia spp. DNA were not amplified from any cat.

Conclusions: The antibody test results suggest that many of these cats were exposed to other cats (FFV, FcaGHV1, FIV, FeLV), had inadequate flea control (Bartonella spp.), and were fed undercooked meat or allowed to hunt (T. gondii). While infection was common, the only haemotropic Mycoplasma amplified from these cats was the relatively non-pathogenic 'Candidatus M. haemominutum'. As previously documented for each of these agents, the presence of a positive test result or infection by one or more organisms is not always associated with illness.