This Is Auburn

Show simple item record

Identification of Rickettsia felis DNA in the blood of domestic cats and dogs in the USA


Metadata FieldValueLanguage
dc.creatorHoque, Md Monirul
dc.creatorBarua, Subarna
dc.creatorKelly, Patrick John
dc.creatorKelly, Chenoweth
dc.creatorKaltenboeck, Bernhard
dc.creatorWang, Chengming
dc.date.accessioned2021-05-29T22:24:27Z
dc.date.available2021-05-29T22:24:27Z
dc.date.created2020-11-18
dc.identifier10.1186/s13071-020-04464-wen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-020-04464-wen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://aurora.auburn.edu/handle/11200/49995
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.35099/aurora-66
dc.description.abstractBackground: The main vector and reservoir host of Rickettsia felis, an emerging human pathogen causing flea-borne spotted fever, is the cat flea Ctenocephalides felis. While cats have not been found to be infected with the organism, significant percentages of dogs from Australia and Africa are infected, indicating that they may be important mammalian reservoirs. The objective of this study was to determine the presence of R. felis DNA in the blood of domestic dogs and cats in the USA. Methods: Three previously validated PCR assays for R. felis and DNA sequencing were performed on blood samples obtained from clinically ill domestic cats and dogs from 45 states (2008–2020) in the USA. The blood samples had been submitted for the diagnosis of various tick-borne diseases in dogs and feline infectious peritonitis virus, feline immunodeficiency virus, and Bartonella spp. in cats. Phylogenetic comparisons were performed on the gltA nucleotide sequences obtained in the study and those reported for R. felis and R. felis-like organisms. Results: Low copy numbers of R. felis DNA (around 100 copies/ml whole blood) were found in four cats (4/752, 0.53%) and three dogs (3/777, 0.39%). The very low levels of infection in clinically ill animals is consistent with R. felis being an unlikely cause of disease in naturally infected dogs and cats. The low copy numbers we found emphasize the requirement for very sensitive PCRs in prevalence studies. Conclusions: The low prevalence of naturally infected PCR-positive cats is further evidence that cats are unlikely to be important reservoirs of R. felis. Similarly, the low prevalence in dogs suggests they are not important reservoirs in the USA. Investigations should continue into the role other mammalian species may be playing in the epidemiology of R. felis infections.en_US
dc.formatPDFen_US
dc.publisherBioMed Centralen_US
dc.relation.ispartofParasites & Vectorsen_US
dc.relation.ispartofseries1756-3305en_US
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licenseen_US
dc.titleIdentification of Rickettsia felis DNA in the blood of domestic cats and dogs in the USAen_US
dc.typeTexten_US
dc.type.genreJournal Article, Academic Journalen_US
dc.citation.volume13en_US
dc.citation.issue1en_US
dc.citation.spage581en_US
dc.description.statusPublisheden_US
dc.description.peerreviewyesen_US
dc.locationUSAen_US
dc.creator.orcid0000-0003-3458-8212en_US

Files in this item

Show simple item record