title: Prevalence of Tritrichomonas foetus infections in French catteries.
abstract: Recently, Tritrichomonas foetus, the known etiologic agent of bovine trichomonosis was identified in domestic cats in many countries around the world. In felids, this parasite would be a significant cause of large-bowel diarrhoea. Therefore the aim of the present study was to determine for the first time the prevalence of T. foetus infection in French catteries. In this epidemiological survey, rectal swabs from 140 cats participating in three international shows were tested for the presence of motile parasites by microscopy after culturing. The prevalence of T. foetus infection was 14.3% among cats (20/140) and 15.9% among catteries (18/117). These values were similar to those previously obtained in other European countries. Except for the age, no significant associations were found between the presence of T. foetus and various risk factors of infection such as the size of the cattery, the type of food, or the vicinity of a dog. Internal transcribed region of the ribosomal DNA unit was sequenced from the 20 T. foetus isolates identified in this study. They exhibited 100% identity and are homologous with other sequences of strains isolated from domestic cats in other countries.
authors: VetAgro Sup, Campus Vétérinaire de Lyon, Université de Lyon, 1 avenue Bourgelat, 69280 Marcy l'Etoile, France. claire.profizi@vetagro-sup.fr
authors: Claire
authors: C
authors: Profizi
authors: Amandine
authors: A
authors: Cian
authors: Dionigia
authors: D
authors: Meloni
authors: Marine
authors: M
authors: Hugonnard
authors: Véronique
authors: V
authors: Lambert
authors: Karine
authors: K
authors: Groud
authors: Anne-Claire
authors: AC
authors: Gagnon
authors: Eric
authors: E
authors: Viscogliosi
authors: Lionel
authors: L
authors: Zenner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D002415:Cats; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D011529:Protozoan Infections, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D016835:Tritrichomonas foetus / Q000302:isolation & purification*
keywords: Cat; France; Genotyping; ITS2; Tritrichomonas foetus