Domestic cats (Felis catus) are widespread worldwide as the most popular pets. This medium-sized carnivore have well-known negative effects on biodiversity, but there is still need to better understand the proximate causes of its predation. Based on a citizen science project, we assessed the role of spatiotemporal (i.e., latitude, longitude and seasons), climatic (i.e., rainfall), anthropogenic (i.e., human footprint, HFI) and individual (i.e., sex and age) variables on the number of preys returned home by cats in metropolitan France. Over the 5 048 cats monitored between 2015 and 2022, prey from 12 different classes (n= 36 568) were returned, being 68% mammals, 21% birds and 8% squamates. Shrews brought home by cats peaked during summer, while rodents were recorded during summer-autumn. Birds brought home by cats peaked in spring-summer and in autumn, and lizards in spring and in late summer. Lower HFI was associated with more voles and mice brought home and the opposite trend was observed for lizards and birds. Younger cats were more prone to bring home shrews, birds and reptiles. Although environmental factors play a minor role in prey brought home by cats, some geographical characteristics of prey species distribution partly explains the hunting behaviour of cats.

Feral cats are both difficult to manage and harder to monitor. We analysed the cost-efficacy of monitoring the pre- and post-bait abundance of feral cats via camera-traps or track counts using four years of data from the Matuwa Indigenous protected Area. Additionally, we report on the recovery of the feral cat population and the efficacy of subsequent Eradicat® aerial baiting programs following 12 months of intensive feral cat control in 2019 that consisted of aerial baiting and leg-hold trapping. Significantly fewer cats were captured in 2020 (n = 8) compared to 2019 (n = 126). Pre-baiting surveys for 2020 and 2021 suggested that the population of feral cats on Matuwa was very low, at 5.5 and 4.4 cats/100 km respectively, which is well below our target threshold of 10 cats/100 km. Post-baiting surveys then recorded 3.6 and 3.0 cats/100 km respectively, which still equates to a 35% and 32% reduction in cat activity. Track counts recorded significantly more feral cats than camera traps and were cheaper to implement. We recommend that at least two methods of monitoring cats be implemented to prevent erroneous conclusions.

Background: Wolbachia sp. is an endosymbiotic bacterium that is widespread among arthropods and filarial nematodes. It affects the fertility and maturation of its arthropod hosts, which in some cases are vectors of infectious diseases of humans and animals. Acanthocheilonema reconditum is a canine filarial nematode, which can eventually infect humans through arthropods. An outbreak of A. reconditum has been reported recently in dogs in the southwest of Colombia, specifically in Cali. In addition, Wolbachia sp. is currently used for the biological control of the mosquito Aedes egypti in cities in the north and south-west of Colombia. Aedes egypti is a vector of dengue fever, a major public health disease in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. The objectives of this study were to detect Wolbachia sp. in mosquito and flea samples collected from dogs in southwestern Colombia and to determine the co-infection of Wolbachia sp. and A. reconditum in the recent outbreak of canine filariasis in Santiago de Cali. Methods: A total of 18 mosquitoes of the genera Aedes and Culex and 18 Ctenocephalides felis fleas were collected in Santiago de Cali and nearby municipalities. DNA was extracted and 16S rRNA and ftsZ gene fragments were identified using conventional and nested polymerase chain reaction. In addition, the presence of Wolbachia sp. was analyzed in 55 cases positive for A. reconditum previously detected in the city, using the same molecular techniques. Results: From the analysis of 18 mosquitoes and 18 fleas, using molecular techniques based on the 16S rRNA and ftsZ genes, Wolbachia sp. was detected in all the arthropods analyzed. Wolbachia sp. was not detected in the samples obtained from dogs infected with A. reconditum. Conclusions: Molecular analyses were shown to be effective for the identification of Wolbachia sp. in mosquitoes and fleas but not in samples positive for A. reconditum.

Rickettsia is an important pathogenic entity among tick-borne diseases (TBD), which are considered serious emerging public health problems globally. In India, though the widespread distribution of ticks and TBD has been documented, its real burden remains underreported. In a preliminary attempt, rickettsial surveillance was carried out in ticks collected from Sirumalai, Eastern Ghats in Tamil Nadu by using pathogen genome-based phylogenetic inferences generated through multi-locus sequence typing (MLST), targeting the genes 16s rRNA, OmpA, OmpB, and gltA by nested PCR. The laboratory evidence confirms the circulation of Rickettsia in Haemaphysalis intermedia species collected from this area. Analysis of the four gene sequences detected demonstrates their closest identity to the spotted fever group (SFG) available in the GenBank database. Further, multiple sequence alignment with other sequences derived from the GenBank database showed close relatedness to Rickettsia conorii subsp. raoultii (16s rDNA-99.32%, ompA-93.38%, ompB-97.39%, and gltA-98.57%) and Rickettsia felis (ompA-100%, ompB-100% and gltA-99.41%). With this genomic evidence, the circulation of rickettsial pathogens in the pools of H. intermedia ticks infesting livestock in the Sirumalai foothill area has been demonstrated and to complement the microscopic identification of the tick species, DNA barcodes were generated for H. intermedia using the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene (COI). Nevertheless, R. raoultii and R. felis were found to be the aetiological agents of tick-borne lymphadenopathy and flea-borne spotted fever in human cases, respectively. Further study on the determination of their diversity, distribution, clinical relevance, and potential risk to the local community in these areas is highly warranted.