Open Access
How to translate text using browser tools
1 April 2006 Molecular Detection and Characterization of Cytauxzoon felis and a Babesia Species in Cougars from Florida
Michael J. Yabsley, Staci M. Murphy, Mark W. Cunningham
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Piroplasms, morphologically indistinguishable from Cytauxzoon felis, previously were detected in 36% of cougars in Florida. We utilized a nested 18S rRNA assay, which amplifies DNA from all piroplasms, to screen blood samples collected from 41 cougars from Florida (39 native Florida panthers [Puma concolor coryi] and two translocated Texas cougars [P. c. stanleyana]) from 1989–2005. Thirty-nine of the 41 cougars (95%) were positive for piroplasms; however, sequence analysis and restriction enzyme digestion revealed that only five were positive for C. felis. Samples from 32 cougars were positive for a Babesia sp. Two cougars were co-infected with both C. felis and the Babesia sp. Phylogenetic analysis of 18S rRNA gene sequence indicated that the Florida panther Babesia sp. was most closely related to a Babesia sp. reported from Ixodes ovatus from Japan, Babesia divergens, and Babesia odocoilei. This study indicates that Florida panthers harbor two distinct piroplasms, C. felis and a Babesia sp., and that some individuals are infected with both organisms. The infectivity and pathogenicity of this Babesia sp. for domestic cats is unknown. This represents the first report of a feline Babesia sp. in North America.

Yabsley, Murphy, and Cunningham: Molecular Detection and Characterization of Cytauxzoon felis and a Babesia Species in Cougars from Florida
Michael J. Yabsley, Staci M. Murphy, and Mark W. Cunningham "Molecular Detection and Characterization of Cytauxzoon felis and a Babesia Species in Cougars from Florida," Journal of Wildlife Diseases 42(2), 366-374, (1 April 2006). https://doi.org/10.7589/0090-3558-42.2.366
Received: 3 June 2005; Published: 1 April 2006
KEYWORDS
Babesia
cougar
Cytauxzoon
Feline
Florida panther
molecular analysis
phylogenetic analysis
Back to Top