title: An epidemiological survey of feline hemoplasma infection in Japan.
abstract: Hemoplasma (hemotropic mycoplasma) often causes hemolytic anemia in infected cats, especially those with immune suppression. An updated nationwide epidemiological survey of feline hemoplasmosis was conducted in Japan. Blood samples were collected from 1,770 outdoor-accessing cats from March to October 2008. The infections were molecularly detected by PCR analyses, which are able to distinguish Mycoplasma haemofelis (Mhf), `Candidatus M. haemominutum' (CMhm), and `Candidatus M. turicensis' (CMt) infections. Of the 1,770 cats, 468 cases (26.4%) revealed a single- or co-infection of feline hemoplasmas [Mhf alone, 42 cases (2.4%); CMhm alone, 280 cases (15.8%); CMt alone, 48 cases (2.7%); Mhf+CMhm, 28 cases (1.6%); Mhf+CMt, 6 cases (0.3%); CMhm+CMt, 50 cases (2.8%); Mhf+CMhm+CMt, 14 cases (0.8%)]. In addition, male gender, middle to old age, history of fight wounds, and feline immunodeficiency virus infection were shown to be risk factors for hemoplasma infection. Close attention must be paid to the acute onset of disease in feline practice because a prevalence of hemoplasma infection was detected even in clinically healthy cats.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Veterinary Internal Medicine, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan.
authors.forename: Miki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanahara
authors.forename: Shotaro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miyamoto
authors.forename: Takuma
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nishio
authors.forename: Yuta
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yoshii
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sakuma
authors.forename: Yoshimi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sakata
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nishigaki
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsujimoto
authors.forename: Asuka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Setoguchi
authors.forename: Yasuyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Endo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002415:Cats; D005260:Female; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009174:Mycoplasma / Q000145:classification*; D009175:Mycoplasma Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity