Yabsley Michael J, Murphy Staci M, Cunningham Mark W
Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, Department of Population Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA.
J Wildl Dis. 2006 Apr;42(2):366-74. doi: 10.7589/0090-3558-42.2.366.
Piroplasms, morphologically indistinguishable from Cytauxzoon felis, previously were detected in 36% of cougars in Florida. We utilized a nested 18S rRNA assay, which amplifies DNA from all piroplasms, to screen blood samples collected from 41 cougars from Florida (39 native Florida panthers [Puma concolor coryi] and two translocated Texas cougars [P. c. stanleyana]) from 1989-2005. Thirty-nine of the 41 cougars (95%) were positive for piroplasms; however, sequence analysis and restriction enzyme digestion revealed that only five were positive for C. felis. Samples from 32 cougars were positive for a Babesia sp. Two cougars were co-infected with both C. felis and the Babesia sp. Phylogenetic analysis of 18S rRNA gene sequence indicated that the Florida panther Babesia sp. was most closely related to a Babesia sp. reported from Ixodes ovatus from Japan, Babesia divergens, and Babesia odocoilei. This study indicates that Florida panthers harbor two distinct piroplasms, C. felis and a Babesia sp., and that some individuals are infected with both organisms. The infectivity and pathogenicity of this Babesia sp. for domestic cats is unknown. This represents the first report of a feline Babesia sp. in North America.
形态上与美洲狮嗜吞噬细胞无形体无法区分的梨形虫，此前在佛罗里达州36%的美洲狮中被检测到。我们利用一种巢式18S rRNA检测法（该方法可扩增所有梨形虫的DNA），对1989年至2005年从佛罗里达州41只美洲狮（39只佛罗里达本土美洲狮[美洲狮指名亚种]和2只迁移而来的得克萨斯美洲狮[美洲狮斯坦利亚种]）采集的血液样本进行筛查。41只美洲狮中有39只（95%）梨形虫检测呈阳性；然而，序列分析和限制性内切酶消化显示，只有5只美洲狮对美洲狮嗜吞噬细胞无形体呈阳性。32只美洲狮的样本对一种巴贝斯虫呈阳性。两只美洲狮同时感染了美洲狮嗜吞噬细胞无形体和巴贝斯虫。18S rRNA基因序列的系统发育分析表明，佛罗里达美洲狮巴贝斯虫与从日本卵形硬蜱分离出的一种巴贝斯虫、分歧巴贝斯虫和白尾鹿巴贝斯虫关系最为密切。这项研究表明，佛罗里达美洲狮携带两种不同的梨形虫，即美洲狮嗜吞噬细胞无形体和一种巴贝斯虫，并且一些个体同时感染了这两种病原体。这种巴贝斯虫对家猫的感染性和致病性尚不清楚。这是北美地区首次关于猫巴贝斯虫的报道。
