Ticks, Fleas, and Harboured Pathogens from Dogs and Cats in Cyprus
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Animals and Ectoparasite Collection
2.2. Identification of Ectoparasites
2.3. Detection of VBPs
2.4. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Study Animals
3.2. Ectoparasites
3.3. Detection of VBPs
3.4. Statistical Analysis
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Primer | Pathogen | Target Gene | Nucleotide Sequences (5′-3′) | Product Size (bp) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rrl9O.70p | Rickettsia | 190 kDa antigen | ATGGCGAATATTTCTCCAAAA | ~532 | [22] |
Rrl9O.602n | AGTGCAGCATTCGCTCCCCCT | ||||
325s | Bartonella | 16S-23S rRNA ITS | CTTCAGATGATGATCCCAAGCCTTYTGGCG | ~600 | [23] |
1100as | GAACCGACGACCCCCTGCTTGCAAAGCA | ||||
Piro A | Babesia | 18S rRNA | AATACCCAATCCTGACACAGGG | 400 | [24] |
Piro B | TTAAATACGAATGCCCCCAAC | ||||
EHR16SD | Anaplasma/Ehrlichia | 18S rRNA | GGTACCYACAGAAGAAGTCC | 345 | [24] |
EHR16SR | TAGCACTCATCGTTTACAGC | ||||
Tabar F | Hepatozoon | 18S rRNA | CCAGCAGCCGCGGTAATTC | 373 | [25] |
Tabar R | CTTTCGCAGTAGTTYGTCTTTAACAAATCT |
Factor | Dogs (n = 161) | Cats (n = 59) | |
---|---|---|---|
Status | Owner/Shelter | 134/27 | 51/8 |
Region | Lefkosia | 32 | 3 |
Lemesos | 91 | 42 | |
Larnaca | 28 | 6 | |
Paphos | 8 | 4 | |
Amochostos | 2 | 4 | |
Sex | Male/Female | 81/80 | 23/36 |
Age | <6 months | 23 | 17 |
6–≤12 months | 13 | 14 | |
>1–≤7 years | 93 | 25 | |
>7 years | 32 | 3 | |
Last treatment for ectoparasites | ≤1 month | 17 | 2 |
1–≤3 months | 17 | 6 | |
>3–≤6 months | 11 | 3 | |
>6–≤12 months | 22 | 0 | |
>12 months | 94 | 48 | |
Reason for visit or findings | Disease/Other | 88/73 | 34/25 |
Animal Species (Sample Size) | Ticks n (%C.I.) | Fleas n (%C.I.) | Ticks and Fleas n (%C.I.) | Fleas and Lice n (%C.I.) | Ticks, Fleas, and Lice n (%C.I.) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dogs (n = 161) | 98 (60.8 ± 7.7) | 51 (31.7 ± 6.7) | 12 (7.5 ± 3.1) | 0 | 0 |
Cats (n = 59) | 9 (15.3 ± 7.0) | 45 (76.3 ± 12.2) | 3 (5.1 ± 3.3) | 1 (1.7 ± 1.4) | 1 (1.7 ± 1.4) |
Animal Species (Sample Size) | Rhipicephalus sanguineus s.l. | Ixodes gibbosus | Ctenocephalides felis | Ctenocephalides canis | Echidnophaga gallinacea |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dogs (n = 161) | 108 1 | 2 2 | 62 1,2 | 1 | 0 |
Cats (n = 59) | 13 3,4 | 0 | 45 3,4 | 0 | 1 5 |
Animal Species | VBPs in Ticks | VBPs in Fleas | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A. p | R. m | R. c | R. f | H. c | H. f | R. f | R. sp. | B. k | B. c | B. h | |
Dogs (n) | 3 | 10 | 1 | - | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | - |
Cats (n) | 2 | - | 1 | - | 1 | 5 | - | - | 1 | ||
Total | 3 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
VBP (n of Sequences Analyzed) | GenBank Accession Number | Similarity |
---|---|---|
Anaplasma platys (n = 3) | JX392984.1 | 99% |
Rickettsia massiliae (n = 12) | MW026209.1 | 97–99% |
Rickettsia felis (n = 9) | KP318094.1 | 96–99% |
Hepatozoon felis (n = 2) | KY649442.1 | 100% |
Hepatozoon canis (n = 3) | MK645969.1 | 97–100% |
Rickettsia conorii (n = 1) | AE006914.1 | 97% |
Rickettsia sp. (n = 4) | MF134884.1 | 96–99% |
Bartonella koehlerae (n = 1) | MT095046.1 | 98% |
Bartonella clarridgeiae (n = 2) | EU589237.1 | 96% |
Bartonella henselae (n = 1) | KT314216.1 | 100% |
Ticks | Fleas | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Variable | Positive | Negative | p-Value | Positive | Negative | p-Value |
Last treatment | 0.451 | 0.471 | ||||
≤1 month | 14 (73.7%) | 5 (26.3%) | 6 (31.6%) | 13 (68.4%) | ||
>1–3 months | 12 (52.2%) | 11 (47.8%) | 13 (56.5%) | 10 (43.5%) | ||
>3–6 months | 6 (42.9%) | 8 (57.1%) | 8 (57.1%) | 6 (42.9%) | ||
>6–12 months | 13 (59.1%) | 9 (40.9%) | 11 (50.0%) | 11 (50.0%) | ||
>12 months | 78 (54.9%) | 64 (45.1%) | 75 (52.8%) | 67 (47.2%) | ||
Sex | 0.438 | 0.875 | ||||
Male | 61 (58.7%) | 43 (41.3%) | 54 (51.9%) | 50 (48.1%) | ||
Female | 62 (53.4%) | 54 (46.6%) | 59 (50.9%) | 57 (49.1%) | ||
Age category | 0.000 * | 0.000 * | ||||
<6 months | 13 (32.5%) | 27 (67.5%) | 30 (75.0%) | 10 (25.0%) | ||
6–12 months | 7 (25.9%) | 20 (74.1%) | 20 (74.1%) | 7 (25.9%) | ||
>1–7 years | 81 (68.6%) | 37 (31.4%) | 49 (41.5%) | 69 (58.5%) | ||
>7 years | 22 (62.9%) | 13 (37.1%) | 14 (40.0%) | 21 (60.0%) | ||
Status | 0.000 * | 0.000 * | ||||
Owned | 93 (50.3%) | 92 (49.7%) | 106 (57.3%) | 79 (42.7%) | ||
Sheltered | 30 (85.7%) | 5 (14.3%) | 7 (20.0%) | 28 (80.0%) |
VBPs | p-Value | ||
---|---|---|---|
Variable | Positive | Negative | |
Signs/findings | 0.120 | ||
Disease | 21 (17.8%) | 97 (82.2%) | |
Other | 10 (10.3%) | 87 (89.7%) | |
Status | 0.304 | ||
Owned | 24 (13.3%) | 156 (86.7%) | |
Sheltered | 7 (20.0%) | 28 (80.0%) | |
Region | 0.460 | ||
Ammochostos | 2 (40.0%) | 3 (60.0%) | |
Larnaca | 3 (9.4%) | 29 (90.6%) | |
Lemesos | 18 (13.7%) | 113 (86.3%) | |
Lefkosia | 6 (17.1%) | 29 (82.9%) | |
Paphos | 2 (16.7%) | 10 (83.3%) |
Ticks | Fleas | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Variable | Odds Ratio | 95% CI | GLM p-Value | Odds Ratio | 95% CI | GLM p-Value |
Age category | ||||||
<6 m vs. 6–12 m | 1.40 | (0.47, 4.43) | 0.557 | 1.05 | (0.32, 3.30) | 0.928 |
vs. 1–7 years | 0.26 | (0.11, 0.55) | 0.001 * | 3.59 | (1.61, 8.54) | 0.002 * |
vs. >7 years | 0.27 | (0.10, 0.67) | 0.007 * | 4.88 | (1.83, 13.82) | 0.001 * |
Status | ||||||
Owned vs. Sheltered | 0.20 | (0.06, 0.52) | 0.002 * | 4.84 | (2.04, 12.91) | 0.001 * |
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Diakou, A.; Sofroniou, D.; Paoletti, B.; Tamvakis, A.; Kolencik, S.; Dimzas, D.; Morelli, S.; Grillini, M.; Traversa, D. Ticks, Fleas, and Harboured Pathogens from Dogs and Cats in Cyprus. Pathogens 2022, 11, 1403. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens11121403
Diakou A, Sofroniou D, Paoletti B, Tamvakis A, Kolencik S, Dimzas D, Morelli S, Grillini M, Traversa D. Ticks, Fleas, and Harboured Pathogens from Dogs and Cats in Cyprus. Pathogens. 2022; 11(12):1403. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens11121403
Chicago/Turabian StyleDiakou, Anastasia, Dimitra Sofroniou, Barbara Paoletti, Androniki Tamvakis, Stanislav Kolencik, Dimitris Dimzas, Simone Morelli, Marika Grillini, and Donato Traversa. 2022. "Ticks, Fleas, and Harboured Pathogens from Dogs and Cats in Cyprus" Pathogens 11, no. 12: 1403. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens11121403
APA StyleDiakou, A., Sofroniou, D., Paoletti, B., Tamvakis, A., Kolencik, S., Dimzas, D., Morelli, S., Grillini, M., & Traversa, D. (2022). Ticks, Fleas, and Harboured Pathogens from Dogs and Cats in Cyprus. Pathogens, 11(12), 1403. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens11121403