Seroprevalence ofBartonella henselae, Toxoplasma gondii, FIV and FeLV Infections in Domestic Cats in Japan

Abstract

Seroprevalence of Bartonella henselae, Toxoplasma gondii, feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline leukemia virus (FeLV) infections was investigated in 1,447 domestic cats derived from the north (Hokkaido) to the south (Okinawa) prefectures in Japan. Of the cats investigated, 8.8% (128/1,447) were seropositive to B. henselae, 5.4% (78/1,447) to T. gondii, 9.8% (107/1,088) to FIV, and 2.9% (32/1,088) to FeLV, respectively. For B. henselae infection, the positive rate varied from 11.5% in cats of 1 to <2 years old to 7.2% in those over 3 years old. Outdoor cats showed higher positive rate (14.5%) than that (7.0%) in indoor ones. The rate (13.5%) in flea‐infested cats was significantly higher than that (7.4%) in flea‐negative cats. The positive rates in southern and urban sites were more likely to be higher than those in northern and suburban sites, suggesting that warm and humid environments, density of cat population, and raising status, including hygienic condition and flea infestation in cats may correlate to higher seroprevalence of B. henselae infection. For T. gondii, FIV and FeLV infections, the seroprevalence also tended to be higher in outdoor, flea‐infested cats and advanced age groups. For FIV infection, the positive rates in male (14.3%) and outdoor cats (15.0%) were significantly higher than those in female (5.0%) and indoor cats (4.6%). On the other hand, no significant difference in seropositivities was observed in FeLV and T. gondii infections concerning to both genders and raising status.

Cat-scratch disease in veterinary-associated populations and in its cat reservoir in Taiwan

“…In Japan, the prevalence of B. henselae in fleainfested cats was significantly higher than that of flea-free individuals [28]. Owing to the humid and warm climate in Taiwan, the flea infestation rates were 79.9% and 46.7% in the impounded cats and in the owners' cats in our study, respectively.…”

“…In Asian countries, the results showed that seroprevalence of B. henselae among cat populations in Japan ranged from 9.1 to 15.1% [28,36], 68% in Philippines [8], 48% in Singapore [29] and 54% in Indonesia [24]. Both B. henselae and B. clarridgeiae have been isolated from cats in some of these countries, including Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines and Japan [8,24,26,27].…”

“…The study subjects in Japan were mainly pet cats; however, only stray cats were investigated in Philippines [8,25,26]. Prevalence of Bartonella infection in cats has been shown to be associated with climatic factors in the USA [15] and Japan [28]. That is, high seroprevalence of the infection in cats correlates with warm and humid climates.…”

Evidence of Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, Feline Leukemia Virus, and Toxoplasma gondii in Feral Cats on Mauna Kea, Hawaii

“…Feline leukemia virus may be transmitted through contaminated saliva, blood, or other body fluids (Maruyama et al, 2003), but the virus is extremely labile, surviving only 24-48 hr in a moist environment at room temperature (Cotter, 1998). Therefore, close contact is required for transmission.…”

Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum in Sika Deer from Eastern Hokkaido, Japan

“…In view of this, it will be necessary to examine multiple tissues from animals by PCR and expand the serologic analyses to confirm the low prevalence of T. gondii and N. caninum in wildlife from Hokkaido. The presence of T. gondii has been reported in domestic cats in Japan (Hagiwara, 1977;Fujinami et al, 1983) and recent studies have shown positive rates ranging between 5.4% (Maruyama et al, 2003) and 6.0% (Nogami et al, 1998). Sawada et al (1998) reported that 15 of 48 dogs (31.3%) raised on dairy farms having cases of cattle abortion due N. caninum infection were positive for antibody to N. caninum, whereas the occurrence of antibodies in dogs from an urban area was 7.1% (14 of 198 dogs).…”