ArticlePeerJ2018
Disentangling the link between supplemental feeding, population density, and the prevalence of pathogens in urban stray cats.
Article in PeerJ, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Global Molecular Prevalence ofTransboundary and emerging diseases · 2023Pooled it
- Prevalence of diseases in rescued dogs and cats in areas affected by subsidence in the city of Maceió, AL.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Prevalence and Risk Factor Analysis of Feline Blood-Borne Pathogens in Bangkok and Vicinities, Thailand.Veterinary medicine international · 2025Article
- Density and Home Range of Cats in a Small Inhabited Mediterranean Island.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Article
- Occurrence ofMicroorganisms · 2022Article
- Human influences shape the first spatially explicit national estimate of urban unowned cat abundance.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Occurrence ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- A Case of Letting the Cat out of The Bag-Why Trap-Neuter-Return Is Not an Ethical Solution for Stray Cat (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSupplemental feeding of free-roaming animals, including wildlife and feral or stray animals, is well known to have a substantial impact on various aspects of animal ecology including habitat use, activity patterns, and host-pathogen interactions. Among them, an increased population density (PD) of animals receiving supplemental food raises concerns regarding the transmission of pathogens in these host populations. The primary aim of this study was to investigate how supplemental feeding is associated with host PD and prevalence of pathogens with different transmission modes in urban stray cats. We hypothesized that supplemental feeding would be positively associated with host PD and the prevalence of pathogens with density-dependent transmission modes compared with pathogens with transmission modes that are considered relatively density-independent.
methodsThis study was conducted in six districts in Seoul, Republic of Korea which were selected based on different degrees of supplemental feeding and cat caretaker activity (CCA). The PD of stray cats was estimated by mark-recapture surveys. Stray cat blood samples (
resultsIn contrast to initial predictions, the cat PD was generally higher in low CCA districts. The prevalence of (FeLV), which is transmitted through direct contact, was significantly higher in areas with a high CCA, conforming to our hypothesis. On the other hand, the prevalence of feline parvovirus, which can be spread by environmental transmission, was higher in low CCA districts. The remaining six pathogens did not show any association with the CCA; however, they had a unique association with the PD or the sex of the stray cats. DISCUSSION: Our findings suggest that in addition to influencing the PD, supplemental feeding may affect the prevalence of pathogens in urban animals by mechanisms such as increased aggregation and/or altered foraging strategies, with different consequences depending on the transmission mode of each pathogen.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.