Abbas Syed Nazar, Ijaz Muhammad, Abbas Rao Zahid, Saleem Muhammad Hassan, Mahmood Asim Khalid
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore 54000, Pakistan.
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore 54000, Pakistan.
Comp Immunol Microbiol Infect Dis. 2023 Mar;94:101959. doi: 10.1016/j.cimid.2023.101959. Epub 2023 Feb 13.
Ehrlichiosis is an infectious disease caused by Ehrlichia canis (E. canis) genus and arthropod vectors. It is considered endemic in many parts of the world among dogs. But due to lack of research on cats, there isn't enough information available. The limited reports available on feline Ehrlichiosis relied on the detection of morulae in leukocytes. The current study was designed to detect the molecular prevalence of E. canis in cats along with associated risk factors and hematological analysis. A total of 384 blood samples from cats were collected from various veterinary hospitals and shelter homes and tested by microscopy and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) to identify E. canis. The prevalence of E. canis has been reported at 5/384 (1.30%) and (14/384) 3.65% in cats through microscopy and PCR respectively. DNA sequences revealed significant resemblance with each other and variable resemblance with other Ehrlichia spp. sequences of different species from various countries already deposited on NCBI. Moreover, hematobiochemical and risk factor analysis were also carried out revealing significant results. This study reports first molecular detection of E. canis in client-owned and sheltered cats located in District Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Further studies should be conducted to identify its occurrence in the feline population of Pakistan so that control and prevention strategies must be planned accordingly. Due to the zoonotic impact of this pathogen and in perspective of one health, endemic regions of the disease should be identified and possible control measures should be implemented in these regions to minimize the spread of disease to non-endemic regions of the world and from animals to humans.
埃立克体病是一种由犬埃立克体属和节肢动物媒介引起的传染病。在世界许多地区，犬类中该病被认为是地方性疾病。但由于对猫的研究不足，目前尚无足够信息。关于猫埃立克体病的有限报告依赖于白细胞中桑葚体的检测。本研究旨在检测猫体内犬埃立克体的分子流行率，以及相关风险因素和血液学分析。从多家兽医医院和收容所收集了384份猫血样，通过显微镜检查和聚合酶链反应（PCR）检测犬埃立克体。通过显微镜检查和PCR检测，猫体内犬埃立克体的流行率分别为5/384（1.30%）和14/384（3.65%）。DNA序列显示彼此之间有显著相似性，与已存入NCBI的来自不同国家的其他埃立克体属不同物种的序列有可变相似性。此外，还进行了血液生化和风险因素分析，结果显著。本研究首次报告了在巴基斯坦旁遮普省拉合尔地区的家养猫和收容猫中检测到犬埃立克体。应进一步开展研究，以确定其在巴基斯坦猫科动物中的发生情况，从而相应地制定控制和预防策略。鉴于这种病原体的人畜共患病影响以及“同一健康”理念，应确定该病的地方性流行区域，并在这些区域实施可能的控制措施，以尽量减少疾病向世界非地方性流行区域传播以及从动物传播给人类。
