摘要：This study was aimed at determining Bartonella henselae seropositivity in cats from the Kars province and its vicinity. The study material comprised 100 male and female cats that were aged 1-8 years, of various breeds, and from the city centre of Kars, surrounding villages and the Akyaka, Arpaçay, Selim and Susuz districts. The cats were sampled for blood only once, and the extracted sera were applied the indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) to investigate the presence of anti-B. henselae IgG antibodies. IFAT results demonstrating the presence of these antibodies at titers of 1/64 and above were considered to be positive. Accordingly, the overall seropositivity for B. henselae in cats from the Kars province and its vicinity was ascertained as 29.0%. Seropositivity rates differed between the two sexes and were determined to be 28.9% in the male cats and 29.1% in the female cats. The seropositivity rates determined in the different age groups were as follows: 33.3% in the cats aged 1-2 years, 30.4% in the cats aged 3-4 years, and 20.8% in the cats aged 5-6 years. The differences observed between the different age groups and sexes were statistically insignificant (P>0.05). The mean seropositivity rates determined for the different locations were as follows: 27.0% for the Kars city centre, and 27.8%, 16.7%, 7.1%, 14.3% and 61.1% for the Akyaka, Arpaçay, Sarikamiş, Selim and Susuz districts, respectively. The differences observed between the study locations for seropositivity were statistically significant (P<0.05).As a result, in this study, which has serologically confirmed the presence of B. henselae in cats from the Kars province and its vicinity for the first time, the overall seropositivity rate for the bacterium in the cat population of this region was determined as 29%.
