Molecular detection of hemotropic mycoplasmas in cats and dogs from northern Vietnam: Evidence of interspecies transmission of Mycoplasma suis-like and Mycoplasma haemocanis-like in cats

Abstract

Hemoplasmas are bacteria of the genus Mycoplasma that can attach to red blood cells and cause hemolytic anemia. The two main species that can infect dogs are Mycoplasma (M.) haemocanis and ‘Candidatus (Ca.) M. haematoparvum’; and three major species that can infect cats are M. haemofelis, ‘Ca. M. haemominutum’, and ‘Ca. M. turicensis’. However, there is a lack of research data regarding hemoplasma species infecting dogs and cats in Vietnam. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the molecular presence of hemotropic Mycoplasma in dogs and cats in northern Vietnam. We collected blood samples from dogs and cats and used PCR to precisely target the 16S rRNA gene of hemoplasma species in the blood samples. The results indicated that 1.2 % (95 % CI: 0.5 %–2.7 %; 6/489) of all samples, 1.4 % of cat samples (95 % CI: 0.4 %–3.5 %; 4/288) and 1 % of dog samples (95 % CI: 0.1 %–3.5 %; 2/201) were infected with hemoplasmas. Phylogenetic analysis showed the presence of two different species of hemoplasma, namely M. haemocanis-like and M. suis-likeg. Additional genetic characterization based on the 23S rRNA and RNase P RNA (rnpB) genes indicated that M. haemocanis-like isolates could be M. haemocanis, rather than M. haemofelis. Moreover, we detected M. haemocanis-like and M. suis-like in the blood samples collected from cats, indicating the possibility of interspecies transmission. Although previous studies have detected hemoplasma species in Vietnam, to the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to report the presence of M. haemocanis-like and M. suis-like in cats and M. haemocanis-like in dogs from Vietnam.