Heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) infection in a leopard (Panthera pardus pardus) housed in a zoological park in north-eastern Italy

Abstract

Canine heartworm (cHW) disease is now recognised as potential cause of serious disease in cats and other felids, especially in endemic areas. In March 2009, a 23-years-old male African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus) housed in a zoological park located in the Province of Padova (Veneto Region), a cHW endemic area of the north-eastern Italy, died and was immediately necropsied. A cloth completely occluding the pyloric lumen was considered the presumptive cause of death. During necropsy, six nematodes (4 males and 2 females) were found within the right ventricle of the heart and the pulmonary artery. Diagnosis of HW (Dirofilaria immitis) infection was carried out by morphological features of adult worms and microfilariae, and then confirmed by detection of circulating HW antigens using a commercial SNAP kit (IDEXX Laboratories inc., USA). D. immitis infection was also confirmed by PCR amplification of the 5S ribosomal spacer region, performed on worm fragments and microfilaraemic blood samples obtained from the right ventricle of the heart. A glomerulonephritis of immuno-mediated origin and most likely associated with the HW infection is also reported. HW chemoprophylaxis and annual serological testing on wild felids housed outdoors in endemic cHW disease areas are recommended. This is the first diagnosis of D. immitis infection in an exotic felid in Italy.

The role of wild canids and felids in spreading parasites to dogs and cats in Europe. Part II: Helminths and arthropods

“…In most cases, the infection was an accidental finding at necropsy and circulating microfilariae were never detected. However, microfilariae were recently recovered from a leopard (Panthera pardus pardus) in a highly endemic area of northern Italy (Mazzariol et al, 2010). In Serbia, one wild cat was found infected in 2009 in Serbia (Penezić et al, 2014), but no data of microfilaremia was reported.…”

Heartworm Disease (Dirofilaria immitis) and Their Vectors in Europe – New Distribution Trends

“…In Tuscany too, epidemiologic studies observe the presence of adults of D. immitis between 6.06 and 7.1% of the red foxes studied (Magi et al, 2008 , 2009 ). For the first time, has been described the first diagnosis of mature heartworm infection and presence of microfilariae in an exotic felid ( Panthera pardus pardus ) in north-eastern Italy (Mazzariol et al, 2010 ). Furthermore, a case of D .…”

Zoonotic nematodes of wild carnivores

“…Nonetheless, the involvement of wild canids in spreading human dirofilarioses has never been properly investigated, although they could play a major epidemiological role, mainly because they are out of any preventative control strategies. Wild carnivores (Table 1) living in zoological gardens and free ranging ‘safari’ parks were diagnosed with D. immitis at necropsy (McCall et al, 2008; Penezić et al, 2014), however, microfilariae have exclusively been found in a leopard ( Panthera pardus pardus ) died in a zoological park in a highly endemic area of northern Italy (Mazzariol et al, 2010). In contrast, coyotes ( Canis latrans ), jackals ( Canis aureus ), wolves ( Canis lupus ) and foxes ( Vulpes vulpes ) living in their natural habitat have been found positive for D. immitis adults at necropsy (reviewed in Otranto et al, 2015b).…”