Free Standard AU & NZ Shipping For All Book Orders Over $80!
Register      Login
Wildlife Research Wildlife Research Society
Ecology, management and conservation in natural and modified habitats
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > WR > WR22112
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)
Contents Vol 51(1)

Prevalence of pathogens important to human and companion animal health in an urban unowned cat population

Tamar Michaelian A , Lana Harriott https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9058-5668 B * , Matthew Gentle B , Tatiana Proboste A , Ian Kei Ho A and Rowland Cobbold A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland, Gatton, Qld 4343, Australia.

B Pest Animal Research Centre, Biosecurity Queensland, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Toowoomba, Qld 4350, Australia.

* Correspondence to: lana.harriott@daf.qld.gov.au

Handling Editor: Piran White

Wildlife Research 51, WR22112 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR22112
Submitted: 10 May 2022  Accepted: 19 December 2023  Published: 11 January 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context

The deleterious impacts of cat predation on wildlife have been well documented. Additionally, unowned cats may act as reservoirs of disease important to public and companion animal health and their proclivity for roaming and fighting enables effective disease transmission. Urban environments support the highest human populations and companion animal densities, increasing the potential for disease transmission from unowned cats to people and pets. However, there is little data on the prevalence of pathogens in unowned cat populations.

Aims

This aim of this research was to establish baseline prevalence data for priority pathogens in an urban population of unowned cats.

Methods

One hundred unowned cat cadavers were collected from the Brisbane City Council region, Queensland, Australia. Blood and additional organ or tissue samples were collected post-mortem. Diagnostic methods for pathogen detection included use of real-time polymerase-chain reaction, commercially available rapid enzyme-linked-immunosorbent assay, lavage and faecal flotation.

Key results

Pathogen carriage was found in 79% (95% CI 71, 87%) of sampled cats. In total, 62% (95% CI 52, 72%) of cats showed evidence of co-carriage of two or more pathogenic organisms. The overall prevalence found for pathogens and parasites investigated were: Toxoplasma gondii, 7% (95% CI 2, 12%); Coxiella burnetii, 0.0% (95% CI 0, 0%); feline immunodeficiency virus, 12% (95% CI 6, 18%); feline leukaemia virus, 0.0% (95% CI 0, 0%); and gastrointestinal parasites, 76.8% (95% CI 68, 85%).

Conclusions

This study reports contemporary prevalence data for these pathogens that have not previously been available for unowned cats of south-east Queensland. High rates of gastrointestinal parasitism observed throughout the study population prompt concerns of a general increase in pathogenic prevalence, especially in comparison with that of owned domestic cats, as per previously published literature. The presence of signs of fighting is an important risk factor for increased likelihood of infection.

Implications

Data produced from this study contribute to informing cat management efforts throughout urban regions. Continued and expanded investigations, considering prevalence and risk factors of pathogens important to human and companion animal health, are recommended for the south-east Queensland area and beyond.

Keywords: disease, Feline Influenza Virus, feral cats, parasites, pathogens, Toxoplasma gondii, unowned cats, wildlife management, zoonoses.

References

Adams PJ, Elliot AD, Algar D, Brazell RI (2008) Gastrointestinal parasites of feral cats from Christmas Island. Australian Veterinary Journal 86, 60-63.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Adriaanse K, Firestone SM, Lynch M, Rendall AR, Sutherland DR, Hufschmid J, Traub R (2020) Comparison of the modified agglutination test and real-time PCR for detection of Toxoplasma gondii exposure in feral cats from Phillip Island, Australia, and risk factors associated with infection. International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife 12, 126-133.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Afonso E, Thulliez P, Pontier D, Gilot-Fromont E (2007) Toxoplasmosis in prey species and consequences for prevalence in feral cats: not all prey species are equal. Parasitology 134, 1963-1971.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Australian Veterinary Association (2022) Management of cats in Australia In ‘Companion animals – management and welfare’. Australian Veterinary Association Ltd (AVA). Available at https://www.ava.com.au/policy-advocacy/policies/companion-animals-management-and-welfare/management-of-cats-in-australia/

Banazis MJ, Bestall AS, Reid SA, Fenwick SG (2010) A survey of western Australian sheep, cattle and kangaroos to determine the prevalence of Coxiella burnetii. Veterinary Microbiology 143, 337-345.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Benenson MW, Takafuji ET, Lemon SM, Greenup RL, Sulzer AJ (1982) Oocyst-transmitted toxoplasmosis associated with ingestion of contaminated water. New England Journal of Medicine 307, 666-669.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Beugnet F, Labuschagne M, Vos Cd, Crafford D, Fourie J (2018) Analysis of Dipylidium caninum tapeworms from dogs and cats, or their respective fleas—Part 2. Distinct canine and feline host association with two different Dipylidum caninum genotypes. Parasite 25, 31.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Brennan A, Hawley J, Dhand N, Boland L, Beatty JA, Lappin MR, Barrs VR (2020) Seroprevalence and risk factors for Toxoplasma gondii infection in owned domestic cats in Australia. Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases 20, 275-280.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Cattori V, Tandon R, Pepin A, Lutz H, Hofmann-Lehmann R (2006) Rapid detection of feline leukemia virus provirus integration into feline genomic DNA. Molecular and Cellular Probes 20, 172-181.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Chalkowski K, Wilson AE, Lepczyk CA, Zohdy S (2019) Who let the cats out? A global meta-analysis on risk of parasitic infection in indoor versus outdoor domestic cats (Felis catus). Biology Letters 15, 20180840.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Chang-Fung-Martel J, Gummow B, Burgess G, Fenton E, Squires R (2013) A door-to-door prevalence study of feline immunodeficiency virus in an Australian suburb. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery 15, 1070-1078.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Cooper A, Goullet M, Mitchell J, Ketheesan N, Govan B (2012) Serological evidence of Coxiella burnetii exposure in native marsupials and introduced animals in Queensland, Australia. Epidemiology and Infection 140, 1304-1308.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Courchamp F, Say L, Pontier D (2000) Transmission of feline immunodeficiency virus in a population of cats (Felis catus). Wildlife Research 27, 603-611.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Cyr J, Turcotte M-È, Desrosiers A, Bélanger D, Harel J, Tremblay D, Leboeuf A, Gagnon CA, Côté J-C, Arsenault J (2021) Prevalence of Coxiella burnetii seropositivity and shedding in farm, pet and feral cats and associated risk factors in farm cats in Quebec, Canada. Epidemiology and Infection 149, e57.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Deak BP, Ostendorf B, Taggart DA, Peacock DE, Bardsley DK (2019) The significance of social perceptions in implementing successful feral cat management strategies: a global review. Animals 9, 617.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Dickson JA (2018) The distribution of Toxoplasma gondii in Australia. Honours Thesis, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.

Doherty TS, Dickman CR, Johnson CN, Legge SM, Ritchie EG, Woinarski JCZ (2017) Impacts and management of feral cats Felis catus in Australia. Mammal Review 47, 83-97.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Dubey JP, Murata FHA, Cerqueira-Cézar CK, Kwok OCH, Yang Y, Su C (2020) Toxoplasma gondii infections in dogs: 2009–2020. Veterinary Parasitology 287, 109223.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Dybing NA, Jacobson C, Irwin P, Algar D, Adams PJ (2018) Challenging the dogma of the ‘Island Syndrome’: a study of helminth parasites of feral cats and black rats on Christmas Island. Australasian Journal of Environmental Management 25, 99-118.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Elder JH, Lin Y-C, Fink E, Grant CK (2010) Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) as a model for study of lentivirus infections: parallels with HIV. Current HIV Research 8, 73-80.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Eymann J, Herbert CA, Cooper DW, Dubey JP (2006) Serologic survey for Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum in the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) from urban Sydney, Australia. Journal of Parasitology 92, 267-272.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Fancourt BA, Jackson RB (2014) Regional seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in feral and stray cats (Felis catus) from Tasmania. Australian Journal of Zoology 62, 272-283.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Friend SCE, Birch CJ, Lording PM, Marshall JA, Studdert MJ (1990) Feline immunodeficiency virus: prevalence, disease associations and isolation. Australian Veterinary Journal 67, 237-243.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Gerhold RW, Jessup DA (2013) Zoonotic diseases associated with free-roaming cats. Zoonoses and Public Health 60, 189-195.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Gibbs HC (1982) Mechanisms of survival of nematode parasites with emphasis on hypobiosis. Veterinary Parasitology 11, 25-48.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Gilot-Fromont E, Lélu M, Dardé ML, Richomme C, Aubert D, Afonso E, Mercier A, Gotteland C, Villena I (2012) The life cycle of Toxoplasma gondii in the natural environment. In ‘Toxoplasmosis – recent advances’. (Ed. OD Djaković) pp. 3–36. (IntechOpen: London)

Gordon CA, McManus DP, Jones MK, Gray DJ, Gobert GN (2016) Chapter six – The increase of exotic zoonotic helminth infections: the impact of urbanization, climate change and globalization. In ‘Advances in parasitology’. (Eds D Rollinson, JR Stothard) pp. 311–397. (Academic Press)

Hanage WP (2016) Pathogen epidemiology. In ‘Encyclopedia of evolutionary biology’. (Ed. RM Kliman) pp. 225–231. (Academic Press) doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-800049-6.00228-6

Hanmer HJ, Thomas RL, Fellowes MDE (2017) Urbanisation influences range size of the domestic cat (Felis catus): consequences for conservation. Journal of Urban Ecology 3, jux014.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Hardman B, Moro D, Calver M (2016) Direct evidence implicates feral cat predation as the primary cause of failure of a mammal reintroduction programme. Ecological Management & Restoration 17, 152-158.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Hartmann K (2012) Clinical aspects of feline retroviruses: a review. Viruses 4, 2684-2710.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Hill SL, Cheney JM, Taton-Allen GF, Reif JS, Bruns C, Lappin MR (2000) Prevalence of enteric zoonotic organisms in cats. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 216, 687-692.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Hill DE, Chirukandoth S, Dubey JP (2005) Biology and epidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii in man and animals. Animal Health Research Reviews 6, 41-61.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Hwang J, Gottdenker NL, Oh D-H, Nam H-W, Lee H, Chun M-S (2018) Disentangling the link between supplemental feeding, population density, and the prevalence of pathogens in urban stray cats. PeerJ 6, e4988.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Jakob-Hoff RM, Dunsmore JD (1983) Epidemiological aspects of toxoplasmosis in southern Western Australia. Australian Veterinary Journal 60, 217-218.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Kazar J (2005) Coxiella burnetii infection. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1063, 105-114.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Kellner A, Carver S, Scorza V, McKee CD, Lappin M, Crooks KR, VandeWoude S, Antolin MF (2018) Transmission pathways and spillover of an erythrocytic bacterial pathogen from domestic cats to wild felids. Ecology and Evolution 8, 9779-9792.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Kim J-S, Kim J-U, Jeon J-H, Lee JK, Lee W-S (2018) Radio-tracking survey of stray cat home range in a suburban area: non-exclusive use of home ranges in stray cats (Felis catus). Mammal Study 44, 69-75.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Koch K, Algar D, Searle JB, Pfenninger M, Schwenk K (2015) A voyage to Terra Australis: human-mediated dispersal of cats. BMC Evolutionary Biology 15, 262.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Kopecny L, Bosward KL, Shapiro A, Norris JM (2013) Investigating Coxiella burnetii infection in a breeding cattery at the centre of a Q fever outbreak. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery 15, 1037-1045.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Kutt AS (2012) Feral cat (Felis catus) prey size and selectivity in North-Eastern Australia: implications for mammal conservation. Journal of Zoology 287, 292-300.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Legge S, Murphy BP, McGregor H, Woinarski JCZ, Augusteyn J, Ballard G, Baseler M, Buckmaster T, Dickman CR, Doherty T, Edwards G, Eyre T, Fancourt BA, Ferguson D, Forsyth DM, Geary WL, Gentle M, Gillespie G, Greenwood L, Hohnen R, Hume S, Johnson CN, Maxwell M, McDonald PJ, Morris K, Moseby K, Newsome T, Nimmo D, Paltridge R, Ramsey D, Read J, Rendall A, Rich M, Ritchie E, Rowland J, Short J, Stokeld D, Sutherland DR, Wayne AF, Woodford L, Zewe F (2017) Enumerating a continental-scale threat: how many feral cats are in Australia? Biological Conservation 206, 293-303.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Legge S, Woinarski JCZ, Dickman CR, Murphy BP, Woolley L-A, Calver MC (2020a) We need to worry about Bella and Charlie: the impacts of pet cats on Australian wildlife. Wildlife Research 47, 523-539.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Legge S, Taggart PL, Dickman CR, Read JL, Woinarski JCZ (2020b) Cat-dependent diseases cost Australia AU$6 billion per year through impacts on human health and livestock production. Wildlife Research 47, 731-746.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Livak KJ, Schmittgen TD (2001) Analysis of relative gene expression data using real-time quantitative PCR and the 2−ΔΔCT method. Methods 25, 402-408.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Lockhart MG, Graves SR, Banazis MJ, Fenwick SG, Stenos J (2011) A comparison of methods for extracting DNA from Coxiella burnetii as measured by a duplex qPCR assay. Letters in Applied Microbiology 52, 514-520.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Loss SR, Marra PP (2017) Population impacts of free-ranging domestic cats on mainland vertebrates. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 15, 502-509.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Ma GC, Norris JM, Mathews KO, Chandra S, Šlapeta J, Bosward KL, Ward MP (2020) New insights on the epidemiology of Coxiella burnetii in pet dogs and cats from New South Wales, Australia. Acta Tropica 205, 105416.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Malik R, Kendall K, Cridland J, Coulston S, Stuart AJ, Snow D, Love DN (1997) Prevalences of feline leukaemia virus and feline immunodeficiency virus infections in cats in Sydney. Australian Veterinary Journal 75, 323-327.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Malo JA, Colbran C, Young M, Vasant B, Jarvinen K, Viney K, Lambert SB (2018) An outbreak of Q fever associated with parturient cat exposure at an animal refuge and veterinary clinic in southeast Queensland. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 42, 451-455.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

McDonald JL, Skillings E (2021) Human influences shape the first spatially explicit national estimate of urban unowned cat abundance. Scientific Reports 11, 20216.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Montazeri M, Mikaeili Galeh T, Moosazadeh M, Sarvi S, Dodangeh S, Javidnia J, Sharif M, Daryani A (2020) The global serological prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in felids during the last five decades (1967–2017): a systematic review and meta-analysis. Parasites & Vectors 13, 82.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Murphy BP, Woolley L-A, Geyle HM, Legge SM, Palmer R, Dickman CR, Augusteyn J, Brown SC, Comer S, Doherty TS, Eager C, Edwards G, Fordham DA, Harley D, McDonald PJ, McGregor H, Moseby KE, Myers C, Read J, Riley J, Stokeld D, Trewella GJ, Turpin JM, Woinarski JCZ (2019) Introduced cats (Felis catus) eating a continental fauna: the number of mammals killed in Australia. Biological Conservation 237, 28-40.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Neves SMA (2021) Sars-cov-2 and Coxiella burnetii in female cats from the central region of Portugal. Masters Thesis, Vasco da Gama University School, Coinbra, Portugal.

Nguyen T, Clark N, Jones MK, Herndon A, Mallyon J, Soares Magalhaes RJ, Abdullah S (2021) Perceptions of dog owners towards canine gastrointestinal parasitism and associated human health risk in southeast Queensland. One Health 12, 100226.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Norris JM, Bell ET, Hales L, Toribio J-ALML, White JD, Wigney DI, Baral RM, Malik R (2007) Prevalence of feline immunodeficiency virus infection in domesticated and feral cats in eastern Australia. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery 9, 300-308.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Palmer CS, Thompson RCA, Traub RJ, Rees R, Robertson ID (2008) National study of the gastrointestinal parasites of dogs and cats in Australia. Veterinary Parasitology 151, 181-190.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Paris JK, Wills S, Balzer H-J, Shaw DJ, Gunn-Moore DA (2014) Enteropathogen co-infection in UK cats with diarrhoea. BMC Veterinary Research 10, 13.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Rostami A, Sepidarkish M, Ma G, Wang T, Ebrahimi M, Fakhri Y, Mirjalali H, Hofmann A, Macpherson CNL, Hotez PJ, Gasser RB (2020) Chapter thirty – Global prevalence of toxocara infection in cats. In ‘Advances in parasitology’. (Ed. DD Bowman) pp. 615–639. (Academic Press: Cambridge, MA, USA)

Sprißler F, Jongwattanapisan P, Luengyosluechakul S, Pusoonthornthum R, Reese S, Bergmann M, Hartmann K (2022) Prevalence and risk factors of feline immunodeficiency virus and feline leukemia virus infection in healthy cats in Thailand. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 764217.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Sumner B, Ackland ML (1999) Toxoplasma gondii antibody in domestic cats in Melbourne. Australian Veterinary Journal 77, 447-449.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Taylor MA, Coop RL, Wall RL (2007) ‘Veterinary parasitology.’ 3rd edn. (Blackwell Publishing: New Jersey, United States)

Tran V, Kelman M, Ward M, Westman M (2019) Risk of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infection in pet cats in Australia is higher in areas of lower socioeconomic status. Animals 9, 592.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Traversa D (2012) Pet roundworms and hookworms: a continuing need for global worming. Parasites & Vectors 5, 91.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Westman M, Norris J, Malik R, Hofmann-Lehmann R, Harvey A, McLuckie A, Perkins M, Schofield D, Marcus A, McDonald M, Ward M, Hall E, Sheehy P, Hosie M (2019) The diagnosis of feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) infection in owned and group-housed rescue cats in Australia. Viruses 11, 503.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Wilson-Hanson SL, Prescott CW (1982) A survey for parasites in cats. Australian Veterinary Journal 59, 194.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Woinarski JCZ, Legge SM, Dickman CR (2019) ‘Cats in Australia: companion and killer.’ (CSIRO Publishing: Clayton South, Australia)

Wood SN (2011) Fast stable restricted maximum likelihood and marginal likelihood estimation of semiparametric generalized linear models. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B: Statistical Methodology 73, 3-36.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Woolley L-A, Geyle HM, Murphy BP, Legge SM, Palmer R, Dickman CR, Augusteyn J, Comer S, Doherty TS, Eager C, Edwards G, Harley DKP, Leiper I, McDonald PJ, McGregor HW, Moseby KE, Myers C, Read JL, Riley J, Stokeld D, Turpin JM, Woinarski JCZ (2019) Introduced cats Felis catus eating a continental fauna: inventory and traits of Australian mammal species killed. Mammal Review 49, 354-368.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Yang Y, Liang H (2015) Prevalence and risk factors of intestinal parasites in cats from China. BioMed Research International 2015, 967238.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Zajac A, Conboy G (2012) ‘Veterinary clinical parasitology.’ 8th edn. (Wiley – Blackwell: New Jersey, United States)