title: Frequency of piroplasms Babesia microti and Cytauxzoon felis in stray cats from northern Italy.
abstract: Emerging diseases caused by piroplasms pose a health risk for man and other animals, and domestic cats have been proposed as potential reservoirs for some piroplasm infections. The aim of this study was to identify the frequency of the piroplasms Babesia microti and Cytauxzoon felis in stray cats from northern Italy and to identify possible risk factors associated with these infections. Blood samples from 260 stray cats enrolled in a trap-neuter-release (TNR) program in northern Italy were examined with conventional PCR for the presence of Babesia microti and Cytauxzoon felis DNA. No sample (0.0%) tested positive for C. felis, whilst B. microti DNA was detected in two samples (0.8%). Both infected cats were in good clinical condition and recovered well from the neutering surgery. One of these two cats had a triple coinfection with Babesia microti, Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum, and Anaplasma phagocytophilum. Evidence presented in this study indicates that the blood borne protozoans Babesia microti and Cytauxzoon felis are not widely distributed in stray cat populations in Milan, northern Italy, and that the significance of cats as a reservoir host for B. microti in this area is limited.
authors.affiliation: Reparto di Medicina Emotrasfusionale Veterinaria (REV), Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie per la Salute, La Produzione Animale e la Sicurezza Alimentare (VESPA), Università degli Studi di Milano, Via G. Celoria, 10-20133 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Spada
authors.affiliation: Reparto di Medicina Emotrasfusionale Veterinaria (REV), Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie per la Salute, La Produzione Animale e la Sicurezza Alimentare (VESPA), Università degli Studi di Milano, Via G. Celoria, 10-20133 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Proverbio
authors.affiliation: Centro di Referenza Nazionale per Anaplasma, Babesia, Rickettsia e Theileria (C.R.A.Ba.R.T.), Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia, Via G. Marinuzzi, 3-90129 Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Galluzzo
authors.affiliation: Reparto di Medicina Emotrasfusionale Veterinaria (REV), Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie per la Salute, La Produzione Animale e la Sicurezza Alimentare (VESPA), Università degli Studi di Milano, Via G. Celoria, 10-20133 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Perego
authors.affiliation: Reparto di Medicina Emotrasfusionale Veterinaria (REV), Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie per la Salute, La Produzione Animale e la Sicurezza Alimentare (VESPA), Università degli Studi di Milano, Via G. Celoria, 10-20133 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Giada
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7233-9244
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bagnagatti De Giorgi
authors.affiliation: Reparto di Medicina Emotrasfusionale Veterinaria (REV), Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie per la Salute, La Produzione Animale e la Sicurezza Alimentare (VESPA), Università degli Studi di Milano, Via G. Celoria, 10-20133 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Nora
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Roggero
authors.affiliation: Centro di Referenza Nazionale per Anaplasma, Babesia, Rickettsia e Theileria (C.R.A.Ba.R.T.), Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sicilia, Via G. Marinuzzi, 3-90129 Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: Santo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Caracappa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001403:Babesia / Q000502:physiology*; D041001:Babesia microti / Q000502:physiology*; D001404:Babesiosis / Q000469:parasitology; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D002415:Cats; D005260:Female; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male