During the quarantine examination of four Pallas's cats (Otocolobus manul) imported from Mongolia in October and December 2000, intraerythrocytic piroplasms were detected on Wright-Giemsa stained blood films that were morphologically indistinguishable from other small piroplasms of felids. Further characterization of this unknown organism via polymerase chain reaction amplification, sequencing of a portion of the 18S nuclear small subunit rRNA gene, and comparisons with orthologous sequences from other piroplasms, revealed similarity to Cytauxzoon felis. This is the first report of naturally occurring erythroparasitemia in Pallas's cats and the first documented case of naturally occurring piroplasm infections in a free-ranging felid from Mongolia.
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1 April 2003
An Intraerythrocytic Small Piroplasm In Wild-caught Pallas's Cats (Otocolobus manul) from Mongolia
Cornelia J. Ketz-Riley,
Mason V. Reichard,
Ronald A. Van Den Bussche,
John P. Hoover,
James Meinkoth,
A. Alan Kocan
Journal of Wildlife Diseases
Vol. 39 • No. 2
April 2003
Vol. 39 • No. 2
April 2003
Cytauxzoon felis
Otocolobus manul
Pallas's cat
piroplasm