Molecular investigation reveals three hemotropic mycoplasmas in cats and three tick species in China

作者：Hongfei Shi, Guoguang Li, Dandan Li, Hongyue Zhai, Shidong Ji, Yun Hu, Long Wang, Lunguang Yao · 发表于：Frontiers in Veterinary Science · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.3389/fvets.2025.1522904 · 被引用次数：8 · 研究领域：Vector-borne infectious diseases、Viral Infections and Vectors、Herpesvirus Infections and Treatments

To date, the primary hemoplasmas that infect cats include Mycoplasma haemofelis , ‘Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum ’ , and ‘Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis ’ . In addition, other hemoplasmas Mycoplasma species have also been identified in cats. In central China, no infections or potential vectors with hemotropic mycoplasmas have been recorded in cats. To elucidate the prevalence of hemotropic mycoplasmas in both cats and parasitic ticks, this study investigated the occurrence of hemotropic mycoplasma infections in ticks and cats. A total of 78 blood samples were collected from both anemic and healthy cats, along with 284 ticks from the cats’ body surfaces and 356 ticks found in the surrounding environment. Following the morphological and molecular identification of ticks, all samples were screened for pathogens using PCR detection and sequence analysis. The results indicated the presence of 392 Haemaphysalis longicornis , 152 Rhipicephalus microplus , and 76 Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato in cats and their surrounding environment. Molecular detection revealed the amplification of 156 ‘Ca. M. haemominutum ’ , 96 ‘Candidatus Mycoplasma haemobos ’ , 41 M. haemofelis , and 64 Rickettsia felis -positive amplicons from both cats and ticks. Notably, when comparing the infection rates of ‘Ca. M. haemobos ’ in the environment group, no significant differences were observed in the infection rates among the three tick species from anemic or healthy cats ( p > 0.05, α = 0...