Epidemiology of feline hemoplasmosis in the population of domestic cats in Istanbul

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of hemoplasma species in cats by real-time PCR and to determine the distribution of the species. Furthermore, it was aimed to evaluate factors that are thought to be important in the epidemiology of the disease in cats statistically. For this purpose, blood samples from 246 cats were examined for Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominitum (CMhm), Mycoplasma haemofelis (Mhf) and Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis (CMt) by real-time PCR. CMhm was detected in 20 (8.13%), CMt was detected in 3 (1.22%), and Mhf was found in 2 (0.81%) of 246 cats. At least one of the hemoplasma species was detected in 21 (8.54%) of 246 cats, and two different hemoplasma species were detected in 4 (19.05%) of 21 cats diagnosed with hemoplasma. The relationship between PCR positivity, the contact of cats with other cats (p = 0.02) and the detection of the intraoral wound (p = 0.001) was found to be statistically significant. The statistical significance of contact with other cats in the formation of the disease was revealed. The strong relationship between the presence of intraoral lesions and hemoplasma infection was revealed for the first time. Studies involving epidemiological data and their relationship with clinical findings should be continued.