A Systematic Review (1990–2021) of Wild Animals Infected with Zoonotic Leishmania

Abstract

Leishmaniasis are neglected diseases caused by several species of Leishmania that affect humans and many domestic and wild animals with a worldwide distribution. The objectives of this review are to identify wild animals naturally infected with zoonotic Leishmania species as well as the organs infected, methods employed for detection and percentage of infection. A literature search starting from 1990 was performed following the PRISMA methodology and 161 reports were included. One hundred and eighty-nine species from ten orders (i.e., Carnivora, Chiroptera, Cingulata, Didelphimorphia, Diprotodontia, Lagomorpha, Eulipotyphla, Pilosa, Primates and Rodentia) were reported to be infected, and a few animals were classified only at the genus level. An exhaustive list of species; diagnostic techniques, including PCR targets; infected organs; number of animals explored and percentage of positives are presented. L. infantum infection was described in 98 wild species and L. (Viania) spp. in 52 wild animals, while L. mexicana, L. amazonensis, L. major and L. tropica were described in fewer than 32 animals each. During the last decade, intense research revealed new hosts within Chiroptera and Lagomorpha. Carnivores and rodents were the most relevant hosts for L. infantum and L. (Viannia) spp., with some species showing lesions, although in most of the studies clinical signs were not reported.

Nutritional Modulation of the Immune Response Mediated by Nucleotides in Canine Leishmaniosis

“…Cats are gaining importance in the zoonotic cycle of visceral leishmaniasis, as they have been shown to be capable of transmitting L. infantum to sand flies, and reports of feline leishmaniosis cases are increasing [23,24]. This parasite is also widespread in wild carnivores, and the risk of infection in wildlife animals is high [25,26].…”

Leishmania 360°: Guidelines for Exosomal Research

“…Although infection does not necessarily generate symptoms, some species of Leishmania are multi-host pathogens that cause disease in both humans and other mammals, such as dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) which are important reservoirs of Leishmania. Specifically, Leishmania infection is being associated with a determined pathology and its typical histopathological and clinical features, suggesting that the extracellular vesicles released by Leishmania (internalized by phagocytic cells and transformed into the obligate intracellular amastigote form) can contribute to the host immunomodulation and favors parasite survival and disease progression [20,26,55,56]. For comparison purposes, the phenotypic variation of the susceptibility of dogs to Leishmania (L.) infantum may be a consequence of the activity of the genetic markers that control both pro-and anti-inflammatory cytokines (immunomodulatory activity during leishmaniasis pathogenesis) and the different patterns of the cellular immune response to the presence of Leishmania [57][58][59].…”

“…(B) Zoonotic cycle of Leishmania [20]. (C) Leishmanine parasites: more than 20 Leishmania species have the potential to be transiently infectious in humans and the taxonomy of the dixenous genus Leishmania related taxonomically to the heteroxenous trypanosomatid genera of the subfamily Leishmaninae [23][24][25][26][27]. (D) Tracking the global distribution of endemic areas in the tropics, subtropics, and southern Europe: (1) cutaneous leishmaniasis (red dots);…”

“…Old and New World Leishmania species considered a potential source of animal and human infection, their main characteristics and what was published about their extracellular vesicles[8,20,24,26,27,121]. *** No additional information available.…”

Editorial for the Special Issue “Parasitic Diseases from Wild Animals with Emphasis on Zoonotic Infections”

“…Several species of Leishmania are zoonotic, and most of them were reported in wild animals. Ten animal orders, including 189 species, were infected by the genus [8]. L. infantum, the most worldwide distributed, was described in 98 species, while Leishmania (Viannia) was found in 52 different species.…”