Increasing frequency of feline cytauxzoonosis cases diagnosed in western Kentucky from 2001 to 2011

Feline cytauxzoonosis is a rapidly progressing and usually fatal disease in domestic cats caused by the tick-borne pathogen, Cytauxzoon felis. The primary reservoir host for this protozoan parasite is the bobcat (Lynx rufus). In this retrospective study, we have examined the positive cases of feline cytauxzoonosis identified at Murray State University's Breathitt Veterinary Center, a regional diagnostic facility located in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, between January 2001 and December 2011. Center records reveal that there has been an increase in the rate of diagnosis of domestic feline infection with C. felis over that 10-year span with the majority of cases (75%) occurring between 2006 and 2011. The infection was diagnosed from March through October and showed a single peak in May, corresponding well with the questing period for the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum, a known vector of C. felis.