Interspecies transmission of Cytauxzoon felis.

The causative agent of feline cytauxzoonosis was experimentally inoculated into 4 species of domestic farm animals, 9 species of laboratory animals, and 17 wildlife species. The inoculum consisted of freshly collected or deep-frozen blood and/or tissue homogenates from domestic cats euthanatized in extremis with experimentally transmitted feline cytauxzoonosis. A bobcat, Lynx rufus floridanus (Florida bobcat), developed cytauxzoonosis typical of the disease observed in domestic cats and died of the disease 2 weeks after inoculation. A persistent parasitemia, but no overt signs of illness, developed in another bobcat, Lynx rufus rufus (eastern bobcat). The sheep developed a low persistent parasitemia, but no clinical signs of illness. There was no clear evidence of cytauxzoonosis demonstrated by necropsy or histopathologic or blood smear examinations in all other species. Additionally, freshly collected blood and/or tissue homogenates from animals of various species, except bobcats, failed to produce evidence of cytauxzoonosis when subinoculated into domestic cats.