Pennisi Maria-Grazia, Persichetti Maria-Flaminia, Serrano Lorena, Altet Laura, Reale Stefano, Gulotta Laura, Solano-Gallego Laia
Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Università di Messina, Polo Universitario Annunziata, Messina, 98168, Italy.
Dottorato di Ricerca Scienze Mediche Veterinarie, Università di Messina, Polo Universitario Annunziata, Messina, 98168, Italy.
Parasit Vectors. 2015 Oct 7;8:512. doi: 10.1186/s13071-015-1128-3.
Limited information is available about the species of ticks infesting the cat and the pathogens that they harbor. The aims of the present study were to identify the species of ticks removed from cats living in Sicily and Calabria (Italy) and to detect DNA of vector-borne pathogens in the same ticks.
Morphological identification of 132 adult ticks collected throughout the year from cats was carried out. Real-time PCRs for Hepatozoon felis, Piroplasmid, Ehrlichia/Anaplasma spp., Rickettsia spp., Bartonella spp., Mycoplasma spp. and Leishmania infantum were performed from each individual tick. Ticks belonging to Rhipicephalus (R. sanguineus sensu lato, R. pusillus) and Ixodes (I. ricinus, I. ventalloi) genera were identified. Ixodes ventalloi was the most frequently found tick species (47 %). The positivity rate to at least one pathogen was 14.4 % (19/132 ticks). Leishmania infantum, Rickettsia spp. (R. monacensis and R. helvetica), Bartonella spp. (B. clarridgeiae), Piroplasmid (Babesia vogeli), and Ehrlichia/Anaplasma spp. (E. canis) DNAs were amplified in 8.3, 5.3, 1.5, 0.75 and 0.75 % of ticks, respectively. Hepatozoon felis, Anaplasma spp. and hemotropic Mycoplasma spp. DNAs were not detected. Four (21.1 %) out of nineteen positive ticks were co-infected.
This study provides novel data about ticks infesting cats and the DNA of pathogens that they harbor. In Southern Italy, anti-tick prophylaxis should be implemented throughout the year in cats without neglecting winter time.
关于寄生于猫身上的蜱虫种类及其携带的病原体的信息有限。本研究的目的是鉴定从西西里岛和卡拉布里亚（意大利）的猫身上采集到的蜱虫种类，并检测同一批蜱虫中媒介传播病原体的DNA。
对全年从猫身上采集的132只成年蜱虫进行了形态学鉴定。对每只蜱虫进行了针对猫肝簇虫、梨形虫、埃立克体/无形体属、立克次体属、巴尔通体属、支原体属和婴儿利什曼原虫的实时聚合酶链反应。鉴定出属于璃眼蜱属（狭义血红扇头蜱、微小扇头蜱）和硬蜱属（蓖麻硬蜱、文氏硬蜱）的蜱虫。文氏硬蜱是最常见的蜱虫种类（47%）。至少对一种病原体呈阳性反应的比例为14.4%（19/132只蜱虫）。婴儿利什曼原虫、立克次体属（蒙氏立克次体和瑞士立克次体）、巴尔通体属（克拉氏巴尔通体）、梨形虫（伯氏巴贝斯虫）和埃立克体/无形体属（犬埃立克体）的DNA分别在8.3%、5.3%、1.5%、0.75%和0.75%的蜱虫中被扩增出来。未检测到猫肝簇虫、无形体属和嗜血性支原体属的DNA。19只阳性蜱虫中有4只（21.1%）发生了混合感染。
本研究提供了关于寄生于猫身上的蜱虫及其携带病原体DNA的新数据。在意大利南部，应全年对猫实施防蜱预防措施，冬季也不可忽视。
