Vector-borne and other pathogens of potential relevance disseminated by relocated cats

Ricardo Guillermo Maggi; Vicky Halls; Friederike Krämer; Michael Lappin; Maria Grazia Pennisi; Andrew S Peregrine; Xavier Roura; Bettina Schunack; Valeria Scorza; Séverine Tasker; Gad Baneth; Patrick Bourdeau; Dwight D Bowman; Edward B Breitschwerdt; Gioia Capelli; Luís Cardoso; Filipe Dantas-Torres; Gerhard Dobler; Lluís Ferrer; Luigi Gradoni; Peter Irwin; Frans Jongejan; Volkhard A J Kempf; Barbara Kohn; Susan Little; Maxime Madder; Carla Maia; Mary Marcondes; Guadalupe Miró; Torsten Naucke; Gaetano Oliva; Domenico Otranto; Barend L Penzhorn; Martin Pfeffer; Ángel Sainz; SungShik Shin; Laia Solano-Gallego; Reinhard K Straubinger; Rebecca Traub; Ian Wright

doi:10.1186/s13071-022-05553-8

Vector-borne and other pathogens of potential relevance disseminated by relocated cats

Parasit Vectors. 2022 Nov 8;15(1):415. doi: 10.1186/s13071-022-05553-8.

Authors

Ricardo Guillermo Maggi^#¹, Vicky Halls^#², Friederike Krämer^#³, Michael Lappin^#⁴, Maria Grazia Pennisi^#⁵, Andrew S Peregrine^#⁶, Xavier Roura^#⁷, Bettina Schunack^#⁸, Valeria Scorza^#⁴, Séverine Tasker^#^{9

10}, Gad Baneth^#¹¹, Patrick Bourdeau^#¹², Dwight D Bowman^#¹³, Edward B Breitschwerdt^#¹⁴, Gioia Capelli^#¹⁵, Luís Cardoso^#¹⁶, Filipe Dantas-Torres^#¹⁷, Gerhard Dobler^#¹⁸, Lluís Ferrer^#¹⁹, Luigi Gradoni^#²⁰, Peter Irwin^#²¹, Frans Jongejan^#²², Volkhard A J Kempf^#²³, Barbara Kohn^#²⁴, Susan Little^#²⁵, Maxime Madder^#²⁶, Carla Maia^#²⁷, Mary Marcondes^#²⁸, Guadalupe Miró^#²⁹, Torsten Naucke^#³⁰, Gaetano Oliva^#³¹, Domenico Otranto^#³², Barend L Penzhorn^#²², Martin Pfeffer^#³³, Ángel Sainz^#²⁹, SungShik Shin^#³⁴, Laia Solano-Gallego^#¹⁹, Reinhard K Straubinger^#³⁵, Rebecca Traub^#³⁶, Ian Wright^#³⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA. rgmaggi@ncsu.edu.
² International Cat Care, Tisbury, Wiltshire, UK.
³ TransMIT GmbH, Giessen, Germany.
⁴ Department of Clinical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
⁵ Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
⁶ Department of Pathobiology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada.
⁷ Hospital Clínic Veterinari, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
⁸ Bayer Animal Health, Elanco Animal Health Inc, Leverkusen, Germany.
⁹ Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Langford, UK.
¹⁰ Linnaeus Veterinary Limited, Shirley, UK.
¹¹ Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel.
¹² Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire, Nantes, France.
¹³ Department Microbiology & Immunology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Clinical Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
¹⁵ Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale Delle Venezie, Legnaro, Italy.
¹⁶ Department of Veterinary Sciences, and Animal and Veterinary Research Centre (CECAV), University of Trás-Os-Montes E Alto Douro (UTAD), Vila Real, Portugal.
¹⁷ Aggeu Magalhães Institute, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Recife, Brazil.
¹⁸ Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, Munich, Germany.
¹⁹ Department Animal Medicine and Surgery, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
²⁰ Istituto Superiore Di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
²¹ College of Veterinary Medicine, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA, Australia.
²² Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, South Africa.
²³ Institute for Medical Microbiology and Infection Control and National Consiliary Laboratory for Bartonella (appointed by the Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany), Goethe-University, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany.
²⁴ Clinic of Small Animals, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
²⁵ Department of Pathobiology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA.
²⁶ Clinglobal, Tamarin, Mauritius.
²⁷ Global Health and Tropical Medicine, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
²⁸ School of Veterinary Medicine, São Paulo State University, São Paulo, Brazil.
²⁹ Animal Health Department, Veterinary Faculty, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
³⁰ LABOKLIN GmbH, Bad Kissingen, Germany.
³¹ Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
³² Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy.
³³ Institute of Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Public Health, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
³⁴ College of Veterinary Medicine, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, South Korea.
³⁵ Chair for Bacteriology and Mycology, Faculty for Veterinary Medicine, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.
³⁶ Melbourne Veterinary School, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
³⁷ The Mount Veterinary Practice, Fleetwood, Lancashire, UK.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Large populations of unowned cats constitute an animal welfare, ecological, societal and public health issue worldwide. Their relocation and homing are currently carried out in many parts of the world with the intention of relieving suffering and social problems, while contributing to ethical and humane population control in these cat populations. An understanding of an individual cat's lifestyle and disease status by veterinary team professionals and those working with cat charities can help to prevent severe cat stress and the spread of feline pathogens, especially vector-borne pathogens, which can be overlooked in cats. In this article, we discuss the issue of relocation and homing of unowned cats from a global perspective. We also review zoonotic and non-zoonotic infectious agents of cats and give a list of practical recommendations for veterinary team professionals dealing with homing cats. Finally, we present a consensus statement consolidated at the 15th Symposium of the Companion Vector-Borne Diseases (CVBD) World Forum in 2020, ultimately to help veterinary team professionals understand the problem and the role they have in helping to prevent and manage vector-borne and other pathogens in relocated cats.

Keywords: Adoption; Animal welfare; Bacteria; Feline; Homing; Importation; Parasites; Prevention; Relocation; Shelter; Viruses; Zoonosis.

Publication types

Consensus Development Conference
Review

MeSH terms

Animal Welfare
Animals
Cat Diseases* / prevention & control
Cats
Disease Vectors*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding