A case of mistaken identity: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and reinvestigation of hemotropic Mycoplasma spp. infection in Ctenocephalides felis (cat flea).

ABSTRACT:

Background

Feline-associated hemotropic Mycoplasma (hemoplasmas) are believed to be transmitted by two primary mechanisms: (1) direct transmission via fighting and (2) vector-borne transmission by the cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis). While the efficiency of transmission by C. felis appears low, most manuscripts focus on the prevalence of hemoplasmas in wild-caught fleas and report either a very low (< 3%) or a high (> 26%) prevalence. Therefore, we aimed to assess the influence of sample processing and PCR methods on C. felis hemoplasma infection prevalence.

Methods

A systemic review of PubMed articles identified 13 manuscripts (1,531 fleas/flea pools) that met the inclusion criteria (performed PCR for >1 hemoplasma on C. felis collected from cats). Risk of bias was assesse

SUBMITTER: Moore CO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11078739 | biostudies-literature | 2024 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature