Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How common are haemoplasma infections in cats in Greece
By Maher, Iona E et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2010·School of Clinical Veterinary Science, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Polymerase chain reaction survey of feline haemoplasma infections in Greece.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats in Greece was tested for a type of blood infection called haemoplasma, which can cause anemia and other health issues. Out of 97 cats, about 21% were found to be infected, with some having one type of haemoplasma and others having a mix of two types. The study noted that older cats were more likely to be infected, and there was a trend showing that anaemic cats had higher rates of one specific type of haemoplasma. Fortunately, the overall rates of serious viral infections like feline leukemia were very low.
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Abstract
The aim of this study was to use real-time polymerase chain reaction assays to determine the prevalence of three haemoplasma species in cats from Greece and to evaluate possible associations between haemoplasma infection and age, gender, feline immunodeficiency virus/feline leukaemia virus (FIV/FeLV) status and packed cell volume (PCV). Ninety-seven cats (24 ill anaemic, 55 ill non-anaemic, 18 healthy non-anaemic) were included in the study. Twenty cats (20.6%) were haemoplasma positive; seven cats were infected only with Mycoplasma haemofelis, 10 were infected only with 'Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum' and three were co-infected with M haemofelis and 'Candidatus M haemominutum'. 'Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis' was not detected. Haemoplasma infection was associated with older age (P=0.019). M haemofelis infection tended to be more common in anaemic cats (P=0.058). No association between gender and haemoplasma infection, or haemoplasma relative copy number and PCV, was detected. Retroviral infection rates were very low with only one FeLV proviral positive cat found.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20580298/