Data from: Transmission pathways and spillover of an erythrocytic bacterial pathogen from domestic cats to wild felids

Many pathogens infect multiple hosts, and spillover from domestic to wild
species poses a significant risk for spread of diseases that threaten
wildlife and humans. Documentation of cross-species transmission, and
unravelling the mechanisms that drive it, remains a challenge. Focusing on
co-occurring domestic and wild felids, we evaluate possible transmission
mechanisms and evidence of spillover of ‘Candidatus Mycoplasma
haemominutum’ (CMhm), an erythrocytic bacterial parasite of cats. We
examine transmission and possibility of spillover by analysing CMhm
prevalence, modeling possible transmission pathways, deducing genotypes of
CMhm pathogens infecting felid hosts based on sequences of the bacterial
16S rRNA gene, and conducting phylogenetic analyses with ancestral state
reconstruction to identify likely cross-species transmission events. Model
selection analyses suggest both indirect (i.e., spread via vectors) and
direct (i.e., via inter-specific predation) pathways may play a role in
CMhm transmission. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that transmission of
CMhm appears to predominate within host species, with occasional
spillover, at unknown frequency, between species. These analyses are
consistent with transmission by predation of smaller cats by larger
species, with subsequent within-species persistence after spillover. Our
results implicate domestic cats as a source of global dispersal and
spillover to wild felids via predation. We contribute to the emerging
documentation of predation as a common means of pathogen spillover from
domestic to wild cats, including pathogens of global conservation
significance. These findings suggest risks for top predators as
bioaccumulators of pathogens from subordinate species.