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Molecular and Serological Survey of the Cat-Scratch Disease Agent (Bartonella henselae) in Free-Ranging Leopardus geoffroyi and Leopardus wiedii (Carnivora: Felidae) From Pampa Biome, Brazil

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Abstract

The genus Bartonella comprises emerging bacteria that affect humans and other mammals worldwide. Felids represent an important reservoir for several Bartonella species. Domestic cats are the main reservoir of Bartonella henselae, the agent of cat scratch disease (CSD). It can be transmitted directly by scratches and bites from infected cats and via cat fleas. This study aims to investigate the circulation of Bartonella spp. in free-ranging Neotropical wild felids from Southern Brazil using serological and molecular methods. In this study, 53 live-trapped free-ranging wild felids were sampled, 39 Leopardus geoffroyi and 14 Leopardus wiedii, from five municipalities in the Rio Grande, do Sul state, southern Brazil. All captured animals were clinically healthy. Two blood samples of L. geoffroyi were positive, by PCR, for the presence of B. henselae DNA. Conversely, none of L. wiedii blood samples were positive when tested using PCR. Indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) showed that 28% of serum samples of wild felids were reactive (seropositive) for B. henselae by immunofluorescence, with titers ranging from 64 to 256. The results presented here provide the first evidence of a Bartonella-enzootic cycle involving L. geoffroyi and L. wiedii, which may account for the spillover of the emerging zoonotic pathogen B. henselae for the indigenous fauna in Southern Brazil.

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Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul (FAPERGS), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Projeto RS Biodiversidade, Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), and INCT Entomologia Molecular.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Pesquisa em Saúde Animal, Instituto de Pesquisas Veterinárias Desidério Finamor (IPVDF), Eldorado do Sul, RS, Brazil

    Ugo Araújo Souza, Anelise Webster, Bruno Dall’Agnol, Ana Paula Morel & José Reck

  2. Laboratório de Protozoologia e Rickettsioses Vetoriais (ProtozooVet), Faculdade de Veterinária, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Ugo Araújo Souza & João Fabio Soares

  3. Área de Vida Assessoria e Consultoria em Biologia e Meio Ambiente, Canoas, RS, Brazil

    Felipe Bortolotto Peters & Marina Ochoa Favarini

  4. Instituto Pró-Carnívoros, Atibaia, SP, Brazil

    Felipe Bortolotto Peters, Marina Ochoa Favarini, Fábio Dias Mazim, Flavia Pereira Tirelli & Tatiane Campos Trigo

  5. Ka’aguy Consultoria Ambiental, Pelotas, RS, Brazil

    Fábio Dias Mazim & José Bonifácio Garcia Soares

  6. Programa de Pós-graduação em Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Flavia Pereira Tirelli

  7. CAIPORA Cooperativa para Conservação da Natureza, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil

    Marcos Adriano Tortato

  8. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Elba Regina Sampaio de Lemos

  9. Setor de Mastozoologia, Museu de Ciências Naturais, Secretaria de Meio Ambiente e Infraestrutura (SEMA-RS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Tatiane Campos Trigo

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  1. Ugo Araújo Souza
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  2. Anelise Webster
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Correspondence to Ugo Araújo Souza.

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The authors confirm that the ethical policies of the journal, as noted on the journal’s author guidelines page, have been adhered to and the appropriate ethical review committee approval has been received (CEUA-IPVDF). All the Brazilian National Council on Animal Experimentation (Conselho Nacional de Controle de Experimentação Animal, CONCEA) guidelines for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals were followed. The study protocol was approved by our Committee for Animal Care and Experimentation (CEUA/IPVDF 28/2014 and PUCRS), ComPesq/UFRGS (37536), and the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment (permit SISBIO 47357-3, SISBIO-56373-1 and SISBIO-36803).

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Souza, U.A., Webster, A., Dall’Agnol, B. et al. Molecular and Serological Survey of the Cat-Scratch Disease Agent (Bartonella henselae) in Free-Ranging Leopardus geoffroyi and Leopardus wiedii (Carnivora: Felidae) From Pampa Biome, Brazil. Microb Ecol 81, 483–492 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-020-01601-x

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