Babesia lengau associated with cerebral and haemolytic babesiosis in two domestic cats

Abstract

BackgroundAlthough reported sporadically from various countries, feline babesiosis appears to be a significant clinical entity only in South Africa, where Babesia felis is usually incriminated as the causative agent. Babesia lengau, recently described from asymptomatic cheetahs, has now possibly been incriminated as the causative agent in two severe clinical cases in domestic cats.FindingsBoth cats were euthanised in extremis. While typical feline babesiosis in South Africa is an afebrile disease with a chronic manifestation, there was acute onset of severe clinical signs in both cats and their body temperatures were above the normal range when they were presented for treatment. Haemolytic anaemia was confirmed in one case. To our knowledge, this is the first report of cerebral babesiosis in cats.On reverse line blot 18S rDNA PCR products obtained from both cats showed positive hybridization profiles with the B. lengau species-specific probe. The two partial parasite 18S rRNA gene sequences obtained, showed high sequence similarity (99.9%) to B. lengau. In a representative tree constructed by the neighbor-joining method using the two-parameter model of Kimura the two obtained partial 18S rDNA sequences and that of B. lengau formed a monophyletic group with B. conradae and sequences previously isolated from humans and wildlife in the western USA.ConclusionAll clinical cases of feline babesiosis in South Africa are not necessarily caused by B. felis. Other piroplasms, e.g. B. lengau, may be incriminated in clinical cases, especially those occurring outside the known endemic area.

The prevalence and impact of Babesia canis and Theileria sp. in free-ranging grey wolf (Canis lupus) populations in Croatia

“…It seems that free-ranging wild animals can tolerate Babesia infection better than their domesticated “relatives”. This phenomenon has been described in cheetahs, and domestic cats, where cheetahs infected with Babesia lengau stay asymptomatic while infection in domestic cats progress and cause lethal cerebral babesiosis and haemolytic anaemia [33, 34]. The observation suggests that healthy, chronically infected wolves may act as reservoirs for D. reticulatus tick-mediated transmission to B. canis “free” regions and animals including domesticated dogs.…”

Prevalence and diversity of Babesia, Hepatozoon, Ehrlichia, and Bartonella in wild and domestic carnivores from Zambia, Africa

“…Additional sequence analysis of Babesia samples from lions in other countries is necessary to determine if the Babesia species detected in the current study is widely distributed. Recently, B. lengau was reported in two cases of severe cerebral and hemolytic babesiosis in two domestic cats in South Africa (Bosman et al 2013). …”

Caracterização histoquímica no diagnóstico da babesiose bovina por Babesia bovis

“…A coloração róseo-cereja da substância cinzenta do encéfalo é patognomônica de babesiose cerebral em bovinos, a qual é causada por B. bovis (De Vos & Potgieter 1994, Rodrigues et al 2005, Barros et al 2006, Antoniassi et al 2009, Fighera & Graça 2010. Embora essa alteração macroscópica seja característica da infecção por este protozoário em bovinos, uma lesão idêntica tem sido observada também em gatos infectados por B. lengau (Bosman et al 2013) e em pessoas afetadas por malária falcípara (Samuelson 1999). Esta característica foi utilizada neste estudo, como critério de inclusão para os casos do grupo A, por conferir maior confiabilidade às observações histológicas e histoquímicas referentes ao agente B. bovis.…”