Prevalence ofspecies infections in cats in Southern Germany.

Abstract

species are zoonotic pathogens, and infections in cats are common. However, prevalence in cats in Southern Germany is still unknown. Therefore, prevalence ofspecies DNA in blood of 479 Southern German cats was determined using a previously published conventional PCR targeting a fragment of the 16S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer region. Associations betweenbacteraemia, housing conditions, feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) status, including progressive, regressive and abortive FeLV infection, were evaluated using Fisher's exact test. Prevalence ofspecies bacteraemia was 2.5 per cent (12/479; CI 0.01-0.04 per cent).DNA was amplified in 11 of the 12 cats. One cat was positive forDNA. Of the infected cats, 2/12 cats were ill; 6/12 cats had thrombocytopenia. There was a significantly higher risk ofspecies infection in young and shelter cats, but not in FIV-infected or FeLV-infected cats. Prevalence ofspecies bacteraemia is low in Southern German cats, but there is still a risk of zoonotic transmission associated with ownership of young cats. Most of the infected cats did not show clinical signs. Thrombocytopenia was common inspecies-infected cats and further studies are required to define its clinical relevance.