Along the way, they have created a diagnostic tool and concluded that the bacterial organism is a mycoplasm, not a Rickkettsia. Using a technique known as in situ hybridization, researchers showed that a small gene fragment, which they had identified earlier, linked positively to H. felis located on red blood cells taken from experimentally infected cats. For years they were thought to be rickettsial, but our laboratory and at least two other laboratories now show that they are not rickettsial. They are mycoplasma organisms.
Mycoplasma organisms are tough, evasive bacteria that lack a cell wall.
They are the smallest free-living cells known to exist, and their vector is uncertain, though believed to be the same as Rickettsia, Messick said. For years, suspected cases of FIA have been treated with antibiotics. Even if symptoms disappear, the organism remains present. The UI technique will help veterinarians better grasp the scope of FIA infection, she said. It also will help researchers find the carrier and identify risk factors associated with chronic infection.