| molecular detection and characterization of cytauxzoon felis and a babesia species in cougars from florida. | piroplasms, morphologically indistinguishable from cytauxzoon felis, previously were detected in 36% of cougars in florida. we utilized a nested 18s rrna assay, which amplifies dna from all piroplasms, to screen blood samples collected from 41 cougars from florida (39 native florida panthers [puma concolor coryi] and two translocated texas cougars [p. c. stanleyana]) from 1989-2005. thirty-nine of the 41 cougars (95%) were positive for piroplasms; however, sequence analysis and restriction enzym ... | 2006 | 16870859 |