Detection of New Hemoplasma ‘Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis’ Infection in Domestic Cats in Japan

Abstract

A novel feline hemoplasma strain, the ‘Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis’ (CMt) infection, was detected in 66 out of 501 (13.2%) domestic cats in Japan using conventional single-step PCR. The sensitivity of this PCR was estimated to be 47 copies/μl of CMt. In the present study, 72.7% of the 66 CMt-infected cats were over 7 years old (mean : 10.7 ±3.27 years old), meaning that CMt infection was frequently seen in older cats. Previous reports on CMt infection stated that it was coinfected with other hemoplasma species, but we detected 26 single infections (5.2%) of the CMt strain. The other 40 CMt-infected cats were coinfected : 20 with C.M. haemominutum and 17 with M. haemofelis, and the three remaining CMt-infected cats had triple infections.