Occurrence of hemotropic mycoplasmas in domestic cats (felis catus) from Belém, Brazil
International Journal of Development Research
Occurrence of hemotropic mycoplasmas in domestic cats (felis catus) from Belém, Brazil
Received 27th December, 2020; Received in revised form 27th January, 2021; Accepted 29th February, 2021; Published online 15th March, 2021
Copyright © 2021, Cassia M. P. Santos et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Mycoplasma sp. is a pathogenic bacterium that causes feline mycoplasmosis or even feline infectious anemia, which in most cases is subclinical, but in some cases takes on an acute form resulting in hemolytic anemia. This study had as the objective of to detect the presence of hemotropic mycoplasmas (hemoplasmas) in blood samples from cats using PCR assays, and to association sex, age and hematologic changes. 100 samples were collected for blood count and PCR. Of the samples analyzed, 44% were positive for hemoplasmas. Of the animals testing positive, 42% were males and 45% females, with most animals being over one year old. In hematological alterations there were no relevant differences when PCR-positive and -negative animals were compared. Hemoplasmas infection in felines is frequent in both sexes, and occurs mainly in adult animals. There are no significant hematological changes in infected animals, making molecular examination an extremely important tool in the veterinary clinical routine. Hemoplasmas are of, as they cause infectious diseases that can affect several species of animals.
