Intestinal <i>Tritrichomonas suis </i>(=<i>T. foetus</i>) Infection in Japanese Cats

Abstract

abstract. Tritrichomonas suis (=T. foetus) has recently been reported to be a causative agent of chronic large-bowel diarrhea in cats. While the disease was previously attributed to Pentatrichomonas hominis, the etiologic agent for feline trichomonal diarrhea was identified as T. suis. Although feline trichomonosis due to T. suis has been reported at prevalences ranging from 14 to 31% in Europe and the U.S., no reports of the pathogen have been published to date in Japan. In 2008, however, we encountered a case of feline trichomonosis at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of Hokkaido University. The parasite was identified as T. suis by nested PCR amplification of partial internal transcribed spacer region 1 and 5.8S ribosomal RNA gene sequences with T. suis-specific primers and DNA sequencing of the amplified products. We then conducted surveys for feline trichomonosis in three different animal hospitals using either cultivation and/or PCR-based assays. The results revealed that 13 of 147 samples (8.8%) were positive for T. suis, and that 5 of the 13 infected cats, which ranged between 1 month and 7.5 years-old, showed chronic diarrhea. Seven of the infected cats were purebred and 6 were mixed breed. These findings suggested that feline trichomonosis is prevalent in Japan, and that T. suis may play a role as a causative agent of feline chronic diarrhea.

Molecular Survey of <i>Tritrichomonas suis </i>(<i>=T. foetus</i>) ‘Cat’ and ‘Cattle’ Genotypes in Pigs in Japan

“…Twenty-two of these samples were from nursery pigs (<4-months-old) and 8 were from fattening pigs. Fecal samples were examined by the fecal direct smear technique under a light microscope (BH-2, Olympus, Tokyo, Japan), and all 30 samples were applied to cultivation on Trichomonas Medium ® (Oxoid, Cambridge, U.K.) as described previously [5]. Giemsa staining of positive-culture smears was performed for morphological observations of trophozoites.…”

“…Control measures have been successful in Japan, and no cases of bovine infection have been reported for more than 40 years. However, we previously reported that T. suis infection has occurred in cats in Japan with a prevalence rate of 8.8% [5]. Furthermore, although a T. suis infection was reported in pigs 2 decades ago in Japan [15], species identification in the paper was based on morphological methods.…”

Detection of natural occurrence of Tritrichomonas foetus in cats in Araçatuba, São Paulo, Brazil

“…The sensitivity of direct examination of feces showed a much lower T. foetus diagnosis than the PCR, as highlighted in previous studies (Gookin et al 2004, Holliday et al 2009, Miró et al 2011, Tysnes et al 2011). Molecular diagnosis is a good choice mainly in the absence of viable organisms in fecal samples, reducing the false negative diagnosis (Holliday et al 2009, Doi et al 2012, Tysnes et al 2011) and even the false positive diagnosis using other methods such as direct examination of feces and cultivation (Miró et al 2011). According to the literature, it is difficult to differentiate T. foetus from the Pentatrichomonas Detection of natural occurrence of Tritrichomonas foetus in cats in Araçatuba, São Paulo, Brazil hominis, a commensal trichomonad of cats, especially by direct examination of feces (Gookin et al 2007, Yao & Kӧster 2015.…”

“…It has been reported in several countries such as United Kingdom (Gunn-Moore et al 2007), The United States of America (Stockdale et al 2009), Switzerland (Frey et al 2009), Italy (Holliday et al 2009), Australia (Bell et al 2010), South Korea (Lim et al 2010), New Zealand (Kingsbury et al 2010), Greece (Xenoulis et al 2010), Germany (Kuehner et al 2011), Spain (Miró et al 2011), Norway (Tysnes et al 2011), Japan (Doi et al 2012), Canada (Hosein et al 2013) and France (Profizi et al 2013). Due to the increasing interest in this protozoan in feline medicine, the current study was designed to investigate the occurrence of T. foetus in Brazilian cats using direct examination of feces, PCR, and further genetic sequencing.…”

“…Likewise, T. foetus would be a synonym of Tritrichomonas suis (Doi et al 2012). However, in cats T. foetus colonizes the colon causing chronic large bowel diarrhea and is transmitted by the fecal-oral route (Levy et al 2003, Tolbert & Gookin 2009, Gruffydd-Jones et al 2013.…”