DOI: 10.5061/dryad.0k6djhb43
title: The association of host and vector characteristics with Ctenocephalides felis pathogen and endosymbiont infection

description: Surveillance of the flea species and flea-borne pathogens infecting cats
 is important for both human and animal health. Multiple zoonotic
 Bartonella and Rickettsia species are known to infect the most common
 flea-infesting cats and dogs worldwide: Ctenocephalides felis, the cat
 flea. The ability of other flea species to transmit pathogens is
 relatively unexplored. We aimed to determine cat host and flea factors
 independently associated with flea infection with Bartonella and
 Rickettsia species. We also compared the presence and prevalence of cat
 host and flea pathogen infection by geographic location. To accomplish
 these aims, we performed qPCR for the detection of Bartonella, hemotropic
 Mycoplasma, Rickettsia, and Wolbachia DNA using paired cat and flea
 samples obtained from free-roaming cats presenting for spay or neuter
 across multiple geographic locations in the United States. A logistic
 regression model was employed to identify the effect of cat (sex, body
 weight, geographic location, and Bartonella, hemotropic Mycoplasma, and
 Rickettsia spp. infection) and flea (clade, pathogen infection, and
 Wolbachia infection) factors on C. felis Bartonella clarridgeiae
 infection. From 189 free-roaming cats, we collected 84 fleas from four
 flea species: Ctenocephalides felis (78/84, 92%), Cediopsylla simplex
 (4/84, 5%), Orchopeas howardi (1/84), and Nosopsyllus fasciatus (1/84).
 Ctenocephalides felis were phylogenetically assigned to Clades 1, 4, and 6
 by cox1 gene amplification. Rickettsia asembonensis (52/84, 62%) and B.
 clarridgeiae (16/84, 19%) were the most common pathogenic bacteria
 detected in fleas. Our model identified host cat sex and body weight as
 independently associated with B. clarridgeiae infection in fleas. When
 controlling for cat sex, body weight, and number of fleas collected from
 each cat, flea infection with B. clarridgeiae was not associated with
 geographic location, flea infection with Rickettsia spp. or Wolbachia
 spp., or cat infection with B. clarridgeiae. Rickettsia asembonensis,
 Rickettsia felis (7/84, 8%), and Bartonella henselae (7/84, 8%) were only
 found in fleas from specific clades: R. felis was detected only in Clades
 1 and 6, while B. henselae and R. asembonensis were detected only in Clade
 4. Wolbachia spp. also displayed clade specificity with strains other than
 Wolbachia wCfeT only infecting fleas from Clade 6. There was poor flea and
 host agreement for Bartonella spp. infection; however, there was agreement
 in the Bartonella species detected in cats and fleas by geographic
 location. These findings reinforce the importance of considering reservoir
 host attributes and vector phylogenetic diversity in epidemiological
 studies of flea-borne pathogens. Furthermore, while flea pathogen
 infection was not indicative of infection in a specific host cat, it may
 provide insight into the pathogens present in specific geographic areas.
 Widespread sampling from across the United States is necessary to identify
 the geographic, host, and vector factors driving flea-borne pathogen
 presence and transmission.