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Yabsley, M.J.; Murphy, S.M.; Cunningham, M.W.
Molecular Detection and Characterization of _Cytauxzoon felis_ and a _Babesia _Species in Cougars from Florida
2006  Journal of Wildlife Diseases (42): 366-374

Piroplasms, morphologically indistinguishable from _Cytauxzoon felis_, previously were detected in 36% of cougars in Florida. We utilized a nested 18S rRNA assay, which amplifies DNA from all piroplasms, to screen blood samples collected from 41 cougars from Florida (39 native Florida panthers [_Puma concolor coryi_] and two translocated Texas cougars [_P. c. stanleyana_]) from 1989-2005. Thirty-nine of the 41 cougars (95%) were positive for piroplasms; however, sequence analysis and restriction enzyme digestion revealed that only five were positive for _C. felis._ Samples from 32 cougars were positive for a Babesia sp. Two cougars were co-infected with both _C. felis_ and the Babesia sp. Phylogenetic analysis of 18S rRNA gene sequence indicated that the Florida panther _Babesia sp._ was most closely related to a _Babesia sp._ reported from Ixodes ovatus from Japan, Babesia divergens, and Babesia odocoilei. This study indicates that Florida panthers harbor two distinct piroplasms, _C. felis_ and a _Babesia sp._, and that some individuals are infected with both organisms. The infectivity and pathogenicity of this _Babesia sp._ for domestic cats is unknown. This represents the first report of a feline _Babesia sp._ in North America.

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