A case report of fatal feline babesiosis caused by Babesia canis in north western Spain

Springer Science and Business Media LLC - 2022
Susana Remesar1, Jose Luis Arnal2, Andrea Gómez3, Alberto Prieto1, David García-Dios1, Alfredo Benito2, Rosario Panadero1, Patrocinio Morrondo1, Pablo Díaz1
1Investigación en Sanidad Animal: Galicia (Grupo INVESAGA), Facultade de Veterinaria, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Pabellón I. Campus Universitario S/N, Lugo, Spain
2Exopol SL, Saragossa, Spain
3Centro Veterinario Meira, Meira, Spain

Tóm tắt

In Europe, Babesia infections in cats are sporadic and only partial knowledge is currently available since the number of described cases including both the clinical presentation and the molecular identification of the Babesia species involved is limited. In the present case report, the clinical signs, the epidemiological data and the molecular results suggest that this is the first reported fatal case of feline babesiosis caused by Babesia canis. A six month old female European shorthair cat from north-western Spain died after being hospitalized for two days. This animal was pregnant and showed anorexia, lethargy, weakness, jaundice and fever with increased respiratory and heart rates. Haematological analysis revealed haemolytic regenerative anaemia, thrombocytopenia and leukocytosis. The presence of piroplasms was assessed using a PCR targeting the 18S rRNA gene of Babesia spp. and Theileria spp.; the sample resulted positive and B. canis was identified by DNA sequence analysis. The possible existence of co-infections with other vector-borne pathogens such as Anaplasma spp., Bartonella spp., Borrelia burgdorferi s.l., Cytauxzoon spp., Ehrlichia spp., Hepatozoon canis, Mycoplasma spp. or Rickettsia spp. was excluded by qPCR. Our results together with previous reports on Babesia infections in cats from Europe suggest that feline babesiosis should be included in the differential diagnosis of animals with anaemia, thrombocytopenia, anorexia and lethargy, especially in young or immunocompromised animals from endemic areas for canine babesiosis.

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