Microscopy and molecular survey of Hepatozoon spp. in domestic cats and their ticks: First report of H. silvestris from Türkiye.

Hepatozoonosis is a tick-borne infection caused by protozoan species of the Hepatozoon genus in the family Hepatozoidae. This study aimed to determine the presence and prevalence of Hepatozoon spp. in domestic cats and their ticks, to characterize the genotypes, to reveal phylogenetic relationships, and to assess the risk factors associated with infection.

First Molecular Evidence of Leishmania Infantum in Domestic Cats and Associated Risk Factors from the Black Sea Region of Türkiye.

Purpose: The objectives of the present study are to determine the molecular prevalence of Leishmania spp. in the owned domestic cats in the Black Sea Region of Türkiye and analyze the associated risk factors in FeL.

Methods: Conjunctival swabs (CS), blood, demographic, and clinical data were collected from 150 owned cats brought to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital during 2020-2022.

Molecular prevalence, phylogenetic characterization, and epidemiological risk factors of pulmonary nematodes in domestic cats in Türkiye.

Aelurostrongylus abstrusus, Oslerus rostratus, and Troglostrongylus brevior are nematodes found in the respiratory system of domestic cats and cause a variety of symptoms. All three parasites use the same hosts and niches, and the morphological measurements of their L1s excreted in faeces overlap with each other. In this study, 300 cats brought to Ondokuz Mayıs University Veterinary Teaching Animal Hospital were screened for lungworms by morphological measurements and molecular analyses.

A novel one-step multiplex PCR protocol to detect avian haemosporidian parasites in the subgenus Haemoproteus (Kruse, 1890) used to quantify parasite prevalence in domestic pigeons (Columba livia) in Turkey.

Infections of avian haemosporidian parasites are regularly identified by molecular methods including multiplex PCR, which allows researchers to distinguish mixed infections of parasites from multiple genera. Here we extend the utility of a previously designed multiplex PCR by designing a primer set specific to parasites of the subgenus Haemoproteus (genus: Haemoproteus). The updated one-step multiplex PCR protocol we describe here allows for the detection of the genera Plasmodium and Leucocytozoon and the two subgenera (Haemoproteus and Parahaemoproteus) of the genus Haemoproteus.

Occurrence and molecular characterization of Enterocytozoon bieneusi in water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) in Turkey.

Microsporidia are obligate intracellular fungus-like parasites that infect humans and animals worldwide. However, there is limited epidemiological data on the occurrence and molecular diversity of microsporidia in buffaloes worldwide. In the present study, fecal samples of 300 water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) in Kayseri, Sivas, and Samsun provinces of Turkey were investigated using two nested PCR assays targeting the rRNA of E.