Purpose

Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) has been considered one of the most important neglected zoonosis in the world. In Brazil, this disease passed for an urbanization process and currently pets (dogs and cats) animals have acquired a great importance on its epidemiology. Studies on dogs have been extensively performed throughout the country, but information about infection in cats has been concentrated in few areas. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of infection by Leishmania infantum in domestic cats living in endemic areas for Canine Visceral Leishmaniasis (CVL) in the state of Pernambuco, Northeastern Brazil.

Methods

Domiciled cats (n = 128) were sampled for different biological samples (i.e., blood, conjunctival swab and fine needle aspiration of lymph nodes) that were microscopically and molecularly analyzed through PCR and sequencing.

Results

Amastigote forms of Leishmania sp. were detected in a single animal (fine needle aspiration of lymph node). This same animal scored positive at molecular examination (blood and lymph node) and the sequence analysis revealed an identity higher than 99% with L. infantum sequences DNA available in Genbank database.

Conclusion

This is the first molecular characterization of L. infantum infecting domestic cats in Pernambuco. Therefore, veterinary practitioners should consider this putative infection in cats living in areas where canine and human Leishmaniasis has been reported.

中文翻译：

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家猫的婴儿利什曼原虫感染：真正的治疗还是偶然发现？

目的

内脏利什曼病 (VL) 被认为是世界上最重要的被忽视的人畜共患病之一。在巴西，这种疾病随着城市化进程而传播，目前宠物（狗和猫）动物在其流行病学方面已经获得了极大的重视。全国范围内广泛开展了对狗的研究，但有关猫感染的信息集中在少数地区。因此，本研究的目的是调查生活在巴西东北部伯南布哥州犬内脏利什曼病 (CVL) 流行区的家猫感染婴儿利什曼原虫的情况。

方法

对居住的猫 ( n  = 128) 进行了采样，以获取不同的生物样本（即血液、结膜拭子和淋巴结细针抽吸），通过 PCR 和测序对这些样本进行显微镜和分子分析。

结果

利什曼原虫的无鞭毛体形式。在单个动物中检测到（淋巴结细针抽吸）。同一只动物在分子检查（血液和淋巴结）中得分为阳性，序列分析显示与Genbank 数据库中可用的婴儿乳杆菌序列 DNA的同一性高于 99% 。

结论

这是伯南布哥州感染家猫的婴儿乳杆菌的第一个分子特征。因此，兽医从业者应考虑生活在已报告犬类和人类利什曼病的地区的猫的这种假定感染。