Principali malattie infettive trasmesse da vettore nel gatto

Feline vector-borne diseases are caused by infectious agents such as viruses, bacteria or parasites (protozoa and helminths) that can be transmitted by ticks, diptera (flies, mosquitoes, sand flies), lice and fleas. These diseases are of great importance in feline medicine as they are often difficult to prevent and are able to determine very severe and sometimes fatal clinical conditions. In addition, the clinical symptoms are highly variable and not pathognomonic and can develop long after the infection making the diagnosis difficult. Cats can develop persistent infections, becoming reservoirs of diseases that are sometimes caused by zoonotic agents such as leishmaniasis, rickettsiosis, bartonellosis and the heartworm disease. In this paper are described characteristics and epidemiological data on some of these feline infections.