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...

诸多病原体可感染多种宿主，而从家养动物向野生动物的跨物种溢出，会对威胁野生生物与人类的疾病传播构成重大风险。对跨物种传播事件的记录，以及阐明其背后驱动机制，仍是一项难题。本研究以共生共存的家养与野生猫科动物为研究对象，针对猫的红细胞寄生细菌——候选种溶血性支原体（Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum，简称CMhm），评估其潜在传播机制以及跨物种溢出证据。本研究通过分析CMhm的感染率、构建潜在传播通路模型、基于细菌16S rRNA基因序列推导感染猫科动物宿主的CMhm病原体基因型，以及结合祖先状态重建开展系统发育分析以识别潜在跨物种传播事件，来探究其传播过程与跨物种溢出可能性。模型选择分析结果显示，间接传播（即通过媒介生物扩散）与直接传播（即通过种间捕食途径）均可能在其传播过程中发挥作用……