High prevalence and diversity of hemotropic mycoplasmas in wild carnivores in Spain

Hemotropic mycoplasmas or hemoplasmas are cell-wall free bacteria that attach to red blood cells and potentially induce hemolytic anemia. Except for felines, very little information is available about hemoplasma infection in... [ view full abstract ]

Hemotropic mycoplasmas or hemoplasmas are cell-wall free bacteria that attach to red blood cells and potentially induce hemolytic anemia. Except for felines, very little information is available about hemoplasma infection in wild carnivores. To determine the prevalence of hemoplasmas in wild carnivores in Spain. Spleen samples of 228 carnivores (eight species, four families) were analyzed by a real-time PCR which targets a 391 bp of the 16S rRNA gene of the Mycoplasma spp. The obtained amplicons were sequenced and compared with sequences from the GenBank. Prevalence was 37.3%: badger Meles meles (49/85), red fox Vulpes vulpes (1/41), wolf Canis lupus (6/37), genet Genetta genetta (7/27), pine marten Martes martes (11/23), stone marten M. foina (6/9), weasel Mustela nivalis (4/4), wildcat Felis sylvestris (1/2). Fifty readable sequences were obtained, resulting in 12 differetns ntST: ntST-1 (22 badgers, one stone marten) had 99% identity a Mycoplasma infecting raccoons Procyon lotor in USA; ntST-2 (three badgers, one stone marten), 100% identity with a Mycoplasma infecting bats in Spain; ntST-3 (four genets, one badger) and ntST-11 (one wildcat), 99.4% and 99.7% with M. haemominutum; ntST-4 (three stone martens), 99% to M. hematoparvum; ntST-5 (two badgers) and ntST-7 (one stone marten), 98% with a different Mycoplasma infecting raccoons; ntST-6 (one badger, one stone marten), 100% with M. hematoparvum; ntST-8 (one pine marten) and ntST-9 (one genet), 98.7% with two further Mycoplasmas from Spanish bats; ntST-10 (one fox), 98% with M. turicensis; and ntST-12 (six wolves), 100% with M. hemocanis. There is a potential role for wild carnivores in the epidemiology of hemoplasmas known to infect dogs and cats. Infection by hemoplasmas recently reported from bats indicates transmission between phylogeneticaly distant species. A hemoplasma previously found in raccoons was prevalent among badgers and may represent a truly hemoplasma of wild carnivores.