AI Article Synopsis
- - Recent conservation efforts in Germany have led to increasing populations of European wildcats, heightening the risk of zoonotic pathogen transmission between wildcats and domestic cats as both populations grow closer together.
- - A study collected skin and spleen samples from 117 wildcats in southwestern Germany and tested for several vector-borne pathogens (VBPs) using PCR methods, finding that 6.8% were Rickettsia-positive and a significant 71.8% tested positive for Cytauxzoon spp., a pathogen harmful to domestic cats.
- - The findings indicate that while most examined pathogens were rare in wildcats, the high prevalence of Cytauxzoon spp. suggests that these wildcats could be important carriers of the pathogen, potentially
Article Abstract
Background: European wildcats (Felis silvestris) are widely distributed in Europe and a strictly protected species in Germany. Lately, anthropogenic protective efforts lead to increasing numbers of wildcats in southwestern Germany. Moreover, in recent years the numbers of domestic cats are increasing. Thus, the contact between domestic and wildcats may lead to the spread of zoonotic pathogens in both animal species. As data on vector-borne pathogens (VBPs) in wildcats from Germany are limited to date, the objective of this study was to investigate the presence and current distribution of VBPs in wildcats from southwestern Germany.
Methods: Skin and spleen samples from 117 European wildcats, originating from a regional carcass-monitoring program in southwestern Germany, were examined by real-time and conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the presence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Neoehrlichia mikurensis, Rickettsia spp., Bartonella spp., and Piroplasmida.
Results: In total, 6.8% (n = 8) of the wildcats were Rickettsia-positive, specified as R. helvetica. Three wildcats were positive for A. phagocytophilum (2.6%), one for Bartonella spp., namely B. taylorii (0.8%), and 84 for Cytauxzoon spp. (71.8%). Out of these 84 samples, 23 were further sequenced revealing very high identity levels (99.84-100%) to C. europaeus, which is considered to be pathogenic for domestic cats. All wildcats were negative for the presence of N. mikurensis DNA.
Conclusions: European wildcats in southwestern Germany are hosting several VBPs. With the exception of Cytauxzoon spp., low prevalence rates of most examined pathogens suggest that wildcats are primarily incidental hosts for sylvatic pathogens associated with rodents, in contrast to domestic cats. However, the high prevalence of the cat-associated pathogen C. europaeus suggests that wildcats in southwestern Germany may serve as reservoirs for this pathogen.
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| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11344307 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13071-024-06428-w | DOI Listing |
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