Department of Biological Sciences, Eastern Illinois University, 600 Lincoln Ave., Charleston, Illinois 61920.
School of Biological Sciences, Zoology, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 1125 Lincoln Dr., Carbondale, Illinois 62901-6501.
J Parasitol. 2023 Oct 1;109(5):525-529. doi: 10.1645/23-25.
Cytauxzoon felis is a tick-transmitted intraerythrocytic apicomplexan infecting felids in the southeastern and midwestern United States. Bobcats (Lynx rufus) are the natural wildlife reservoir of C. felis, where in enzootic areas prevalence can reach 100%. Domestic cats can be subclinically infected with C. felis or can develop cytauxzoonosis. Two studies have documented the presence of C. felis in domestic cats in Illinois; these studies have shown a limited number of cases submitted to specialty labs. During 2014-2018, we obtained blood samples collected by veterinary staff from 514 cats that were apparently healthy and 74 cats that were suspected of cytauxzoonosis. These samples were screened using a sensitive, nested PCR to detect the presence of C. felis DNA. We herein document frequent occurrences of cytauxzoonosis (8-15 cases/year from 4 veterinary clinics) and 12.5% prevalence of subclinical infections in southern Illinois, a locality showing a sharp increase in cases of cytauxzoonosis. Our results suggest a high risk of cytauxzoonosis in southern Illinois, despite only recently being recognized in the area. We found no specific risk factors for cytauxzoonosis or subclinical infections in this location. In addition, cases of cytauxzoonosis occur every month of the year (with the highest frequency in summer) and therefore tick prevention should be used in domestic cats in enzootic regions throughout the year.
猫巴贝斯虫是一种通过蜱传播的红细胞内顶复门原虫，感染美国东南部和中西部的猫科动物。山猫（Lynx rufus）是猫巴贝斯虫的天然野生动物宿主，在地方性流行地区的患病率可达到 100%。家猫可能会隐性感染猫巴贝斯虫，或者会发展成巴贝斯虫病。有两项研究记录了伊利诺伊州家猫中存在猫巴贝斯虫；这些研究显示了向专业实验室提交的病例数量有限。在 2014-2018 年期间，我们从兽医工作人员采集的 514 只明显健康的猫和 74 只疑似巴贝斯虫病的猫的血液样本中获得了血液样本。这些样本使用敏感的巢式 PCR 进行了筛查，以检测猫巴贝斯虫 DNA 的存在。我们在此记录了巴贝斯虫病（来自 4 家兽医诊所的每年 8-15 例病例）和在伊利诺伊州南部的亚临床感染（12.5%的患病率）的频繁发生，这一地区显示出巴贝斯虫病病例的急剧增加。尽管该地区最近才被认识到，但我们的研究结果表明，在伊利诺伊州南部，巴贝斯虫病的风险很高。在该地区，我们没有发现巴贝斯虫病或亚临床感染的特定危险因素。此外，巴贝斯虫病病例每年每个月都会发生（夏季频率最高），因此应在地方性流行地区的家猫中全年使用蜱预防措施。
