Leishmania infection in cats positive for immunodeficiency virus and feline leukemia virus in an endemic region of Iran

Feline Leishmania spp. Infection in a Non-Endemic Area of Northern Italy

“…This result was not surprising, as stray cats in Northern Italy are not routinely vaccinated against this retrovirus. A significant association between FIV and L. infantum infections has been found in previous studies [17,34,51,54] and also in stray cat populations in Milan investigated in a previous study [7]. FIV was previously reported to be the most frequent concomitant coinfection in FeL infected cats [1,5].…”

Epidemiological and diagnostic aspects of feline leishmaniasis with emphasis on Brazil: a narrative review

“…In the Old World, L. infantum is the most prevalent species in infected cats, but Leishmania tropica and Leishmania major have been found in domestic and stray cats in Turkey and L. tropica in stray cats in Iran (Paşa et al 2015;Can et al 2016;Akhtardanesh et al 2020). Worldwide, FeL is not limited to European countries.…”

“…Due to the suppressive effects on the immune system of these animals caused by FIV and FeLV, there is an increased risk of opportunistic infections such as vector-borne diseases (VBDs) (Hartmann 2012). As seen in a recent study in Iran, FIV-and FeLV-infected cats have a higher risk of testing positive for L. infantum (Akhtardanesh et al 2020). However, further studies on the presence of coinfections with FIV and FeLV need to be performed to present more consistent information on the role of leishmaniasis in this type of coinfection (Bezerra et al 2019).…”

Leishmania infection in cats and feline leishmaniosis: An updated review with a proposal of a diagnosis algorithm and prevention guidelines

“…(2020) na F. catus 153 Serological (IFAT, 1:80) Serum 2.0 ( L. infantum ) Iran Mohebali et al. (2017) 2013–2015 F. catus (stray) 103 Serological (DAT, 1:320) Serum 3.9 ( L. infantum ) 4 b Parasitological (cytology) Liver 25.0 ( L. infantum ) Spleen 25.0 ( L. infantum ) 4 b Parasitological (culture) Liver 0 Spleen 0 1 b Molecular (nPCR, ITS2) Liver 100 ( L. infantum ) Spleen 100 ( L. infantum ) Akhtardanesh et al. (2020) 2016 F. catus (stray) 180 Molecular (nPCR, kDNA) Whole blood 13.9 ( L. infantum ) Asgari et al.…”

“…Several factors have been highlighted as possibly associated with Leishmania infection in cats based on univariate analysis, including old age ( Akhtardanesh et al., 2017 ; Junsiri et al., 2017 ; Morganti et al., 2019 ; Asgari et al., 2020 ), male sex ( Cardoso et al., 2010 ; Sobrinho et al., 2012 ; Montoya et al., 2018a ; Asgari et al., 2020 ; Latrofa et al., 2020 ), non-neutered status ( Otranto et al., 2017 ; Latrofa et al., 2020 ), presence of clinical or clinicopathological abnormalities (such as crusting skin lesions, leukopaenia, increase in alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels, lymphadenomegaly, lymphocytosis and neutrophilia) ( Ayllón et al., 2008 ; Sherry et al., 2011 ; Sobrinho et al., 2012 ; Spada et al., 2013 ; Akhtardanesh et al., 2017 ; Otranto et al., 2017 ; Latrofa et al., 2020 ), concomitant infections (such as feline coronavirus (FCoV), feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), feline leukemia virus and Toxoplasma gondii ) ( Sherry et al., 2011 ; Sobrinho et al., 2012 ; Spada et al., 2013 , 2016 ; Montoya et al., 2018a ), geographical area/local environment (such as altitude and rural areas) ( Nasereddin et al., 2008 ; Cardoso et al., 2010 ; Asgari et al., 2020 ), lifestyle (such as access to the outdoors) ( Rocha et al., 2019 ) and cohabitation with dogs ( Rocha et al., 2019 ; Morelli et al., 2020 ). Epidemiological studies using logistic regression models (a powerful analytic research tool that avoids confounding effects) have evidenced that adult cats ( Iatta et al., 2019 ; Akhtardanesh et al., 2020 ), males ( Iatta et al., 2019 ; Akhtardanesh et al., 2020 ), non-neutered ( Iatta et al., 2019 ), or with concomitant infections by FeLV ( Martín-Sánchez et al., 2007 ; Sherry et al., 2011 ; Spada et al., 2013 ; Akhtardanesh et al., 2020 ), FIV ( Iatta et al., 2019 ; Akhtardanesh et al., 2020 ), “ Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis” or Hepatozoon spp. ( Attipa et al., 2017b ) have an increased risk for Leishmania infect...…”