Pathogenic and endosymbiont apicomplexans in Ctenocephalides felis (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae) from cats in Jerusalem, Israel

Joshua Kamani*, Shimon Harrus, Yaarit Nachum-Biala, Harold Salant, Kosta Y. Mumcuoglu, Gad Baneth

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of pathogenic and endosymbiont apicomplexans in the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis (Bouché) infesting 185 stray cats in Jerusalem, Israel using PCR assay and sequencing approach. Two pathogens, Hepatozoon felis and Babesia vogeli and an endosymbiont Steinina ctenocephali were detected in 1.9%, 0.2% and 5.8% of 685 C. felis evaluated respectively. There was a significant association (p < 0.05) between the prevalence of H. felis and the sex of cats hosting the fleas as well as the season of sampling but not for age or health status of the cats or sex of the fleas tested. Prevalence of S. ctenocephali was significantly (p < 0.001) associated with season, being higher in the warm season. This report represents the first molecular detection of S. ctenocephali in C. felis. Further studies to determine the potential role of C. felis in the epidemiology of H. felis and B. vogeli are warranted.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)29-33
Number of pages5
JournalComparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
Volume57
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018

Keywords

  • Babesia vogeli
  • Cats
  • Ctenocephalides felis
  • Hepatozoon felis
  • Israel
  • PCR
  • Steinina ctenocephali

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