Investigación en Sanidad Animal: Galicia (Grupo INVESAGA), Facultade de Veterinaria, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Pabellón I. Campus Universitario S/N, 27002, Lugo, Spain.
Exopol SL, Saragossa, Spain.
BMC Vet Res. 2022 May 14;18(1):177. doi: 10.1186/s12917-022-03287-4.
In Europe, Babesia infections in cats are sporadic and only partial knowledge is currently available since the number of described cases including both the clinical presentation and the molecular identification of the Babesia species involved is limited. In the present case report, the clinical signs, the epidemiological data and the molecular results suggest that this is the first reported fatal case of feline babesiosis caused by Babesia canis.
A six month old female European shorthair cat from north-western Spain died after being hospitalized for two days. This animal was pregnant and showed anorexia, lethargy, weakness, jaundice and fever with increased respiratory and heart rates. Haematological analysis revealed haemolytic regenerative anaemia, thrombocytopenia and leukocytosis. The presence of piroplasms was assessed using a PCR targeting the 18S rRNA gene of Babesia spp. and Theileria spp.; the sample resulted positive and B. canis was identified by DNA sequence analysis. The possible existence of co-infections with other vector-borne pathogens such as Anaplasma spp., Bartonella spp., Borrelia burgdorferi s.l., Cytauxzoon spp., Ehrlichia spp., Hepatozoon canis, Mycoplasma spp. or Rickettsia spp. was excluded by qPCR.
Our results together with previous reports on Babesia infections in cats from Europe suggest that feline babesiosis should be included in the differential diagnosis of animals with anaemia, thrombocytopenia, anorexia and lethargy, especially in young or immunocompromised animals from endemic areas for canine babesiosis.
在欧洲，猫的巴贝斯虫感染较为少见，目前仅有部分相关知识，因为描述的病例数量有限，包括临床症状和涉及的巴贝斯虫种的分子鉴定。在本病例报告中，临床症状、流行病学数据和分子结果表明，这是首例报道的由犬巴贝斯虫引起的猫致命性巴贝斯虫病。
一只来自西班牙西北部的 6 月龄雌性欧短毛猫，在住院两天后死亡。该动物怀孕，表现为食欲不振、嗜睡、虚弱、黄疸和发热，伴有呼吸和心率加快。血液学分析显示溶血性再生性贫血、血小板减少和白细胞增多。使用针对巴贝斯虫属和泰勒虫属 18S rRNA 基因的 PCR 评估有无巴贝斯虫的存在；该样本结果为阳性，通过 DNA 序列分析鉴定为犬巴贝斯虫。通过 qPCR 排除了与其他节肢动物传播病原体（如无形体属、巴尔通体属、伯氏疏螺旋体等、细胞内原生动物属、埃立克体属、犬肝孢子虫、支原体属或立克次体属）的合并感染。
我们的结果与欧洲猫巴贝斯虫感染的以往报告一起表明，猫巴贝斯虫病应纳入贫血、血小板减少、食欲不振和嗜睡的动物的鉴别诊断中，尤其是在犬巴贝斯虫病流行地区的年轻或免疫功能低下的动物。
