[4] Arthropod vectors are thought to be the primary source of infection, although M. haemofelis is also known to be transmitted from queen to kitten and following blood transfusion.
[2] Before the advent of modern PCR techniques, M. haemofelis and closely related Haemoplasmas Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum and Ca.
showed greater similarity to those of Mollicutes than to those of the family Anaplasmataceae in the order Rickettsiales to which they were previously thought to belong.
[citation needed] Although M. haemofelis is generally the least prevalent of the three known feline Haemoplasmas, it causes the majority of FIA cases in the United States.
Blood-sucking arthropod vectors including fleas, mosquitoes and ticks are thought to be the primary mode of dissemination of M.
[12] It has shed many biosynthetic systems found in related gram-positive bacteria as well as the ability to secrete a cell wall (rendering it technically gram-negative).
Consistent with its parasitic lifestyle, the M. haemofelis genome contains a significant number of genes devoted to adhesins, resistance to oxidative stress and the production of variable surface antigens that allow it to persist in the host.
For the most part, the anemia seen in M. haemofelis infection is a result of extravascular erythrophagocytosis by macrophages in the spleen, liver, lungs, and bone marrow.
In cats that mount adequate immune and regenerative responses to acute infection, a recovery time of a month or more may be required before the hematocrit returns to normal.
[5] Intact M. haemofelis organisms have been observed in the phagocytic vacuoles of splenic and pulmonary macrophages, suggesting that these cells may serve as reservoirs.
In some cases, infected cats may remain asymptomatic carriers until compromising of the immune system permits increased parasitemia and the onset of acute symptoms.
Chronic M. haemofelis infection may promote neoplastic transformation of white blood cells in FeLV-infected individuals.
[5][14] In suspected cases, M. haemofelis can be identified by polymerase chain reaction[6] analysis for species-specific 16S rRNA sequences, as well as by light microscopy.
[6] It was developed by Jensen et al. 2001[2][8] and also published with their own trials, which showed 17.1% of individuals suspected of haemoplasmosis did suffer from this species.
These antibiotics carry side effects including esophagitis, GI disease and retinal damage and are thus primarily administered only to cats suffering from acute infection with clinical signs.
[15] Furthermore, blood transfusion and administration of glucocorticoids relieve the severe anemia resulting from M. haemofelis infection of erythrocytes.
Treated and untreated animals that recover from M. haemofelis infections generally remain carriers but seldom relapse with clinical disease.
Furthermore, all three feline Haemoplasma species have been detected in wild felids, suggesting the possibility that they may act as reservoirs of infection for arthropod transmission.
[9] The zoonotic potential of M. haemofelis has yet to be fully assessed, but care should be taken when handling blood or tissue from infected cats.