title: Epidemiological survey of tick-borne protozoal infection in iriomote cats and tsushima leopard cats in Japan.
abstract: This epidemiological survey was conducted to determine the prevalence of Hepatozoon, Babesia and Theileria infection in the Iriomote cat (IC) and the Tsushima leopard cat (TLC). Blood samples from 43 ICs and 14 TLCs were collected between November 2002 and January 2012. Polymerase chain reaction and DNA sequencing analyses detected a Hepatozoon felis infection prevalence of 72.0% (31/43 cats) and 100% (14/14 cats) in ICs and TLCs, respectively. The degree of Hepatozoon parasitemia observed on blood smears ranged from 0.1 to 4.7%. However, no cases had obvious clinical signs of hepatozoonosis. Neither Babesia- nor Theileria-infected wildcats were detected in this study.
authors: Laboratory of Small Animal Internal Medicine, Joint Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kagoshima University, 1-21-24 Korimoto, Kagoshima, Kagoshima 890-0065, Japan.
authors: Morihiro
authors: M
authors: Tateno
authors: Takuma
authors: T
authors: Nishio
authors: Tomohide
authors: T
authors: Matsuo
authors: Masato
authors: M
authors: Sakuma
authors: Nozomi
authors: N
authors: Nakanishi
authors: Masako
authors: M
authors: Izawa
authors: Yumiko
authors: Y
authors: Asari
authors: Maki
authors: M
authors: Okamura
authors: Takako
authors: T
authors: Shimokawa Miyama
authors: Asuka
authors: A
authors: Setoguchi
authors: Yasuyuki
authors: Y
authors: Endo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001403:Babesia; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D016783:Eucoccidiida; D045989:Felidae; D005260:Female; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D015995:Prevalence; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000662:veterinary; D013045:Species Specificity; D016794:Theileria; D017282:Tick-Borne Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000662:veterinary*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers