Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Intestinal Tritrichomonas suis infection causing diarrhea in Japanese
By Doi, Junko et al.·Published in The Journal of veterinary medical science·2012·United Graduate School of Veterinary Science, Japan·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Intestinal Tritrichomonas suis (=T. foetus) infection in Japanese cats.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats in Japan was found to have chronic diarrhea caused by a parasite called Tritrichomonas suis, which had not been reported in the country before. Out of 147 cats tested, 13 were positive for this parasite, and five of those showed ongoing diarrhea. The affected cats ranged in age from 1 month to 7.5 years, with both purebred and mixed-breed cats included. This suggests that Tritrichomonas suis is a common cause of chronic diarrhea in cats in Japan. Treatment options for this condition were not detailed, but identifying the cause is the first step in managing the symptoms.
People also search for: cat chronic diarrhea causes · Tritrichomonas suis treatment for cats · Japanese cat diarrhea parasite
Abstract
Tritrichomonas suis (=T. foetus) has recently been reported to be a causative agent of chronic large-bowel diarrhea in cats. While the disease was previously attributed to Pentatrichomonas hominis, the etiologic agent for feline trichomonal diarrhea was identified as T. suis. Although feline trichomonosis due to T. suis has been reported at prevalences ranging from 14 to 31% in Europe and the U.S., no reports of the pathogen have been published to date in Japan. In 2008, however, we encountered a case of feline trichomonosis at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of Hokkaido University. The parasite was identified as T. suis by nested PCR amplification of partial internal transcribed spacer region 1 and 5.8S ribosomal RNA gene sequences with T. suis-specific primers and DNA sequencing of the amplified products. We then conducted surveys for feline trichomonosis in three different animal hospitals using either cultivation and/or PCR-based assays. The results revealed that 13 of 147 samples (8.8%) were positive for T. suis, and that 5 of the 13 infected cats, which ranged between 1 month and 7.5 years-old, showed chronic diarrhea. Seven of the infected cats were purebred and 6 were mixed breed. These findings suggested that feline trichomonosis is prevalent in Japan, and that T. suis may play a role as a causative agent of feline chronic diarrhea.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22104396/