Survey on the presence of Leishmania sp. in peridomestic rodents from the Emilia-Romagna Region (North-Eastern Italy)

Magri, Alice; Galuppi, Roberta; Fioravanti, Marialetizia; Caffara, Monica

doi:10.1007/s11259-022-09925-4

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…perfiliewi are distinct from the strain circulating in dogs [ 18 , 30 ]; therefore, other mammals could play a role in local transmission. In line with this hypothesis, leishmanial DNA was recently detected in ca 6% of wild animals (including roe deer, hares, foxes and wolves) that were tested in the Emilia-Romagna region [ 31 ], as well as in 10–13% of peridomestic rodents [ 32 ]. The epidemic of human leishmaniasis with fluctuating annual numbers of cases that we observed in northern Italy shares some characteristics with the outbreak of this parasitic disease that occurred in Madrid, Spain in 2009–12 [ 21 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similar to the ecological dynamics in northern Italy [ 22 , 23 , 30 ], the Spanish outbreak reported a high density of sand flies as well as a low infection rate in dogs [ 33 ]. Hares were identified as pathogen reservoirs in the Spanish epidemic [ 33 ], while in the current epidemic in Bologna, an animal reservoir has not been clearly identified, but several wild and peridomestic animals exhibit high rate of Leishmania infection [ 31 , 32 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The public needs to be aware of the potential exposure to sand fly bites in areas in which the parasite circulates, and to be educated in the use of appropriate preventive measures, such as mechanical and chemical insect repellents. Identifying the parasite reservoirs in the selected area would allow the control of their presence/density, for example, by intensifying rodent control in the case rats would be demonstrated as Leishmania reservoirs, as recently suggested [ 32 ]. A number of factors, including environmental transformation related to human activities and climate change could contribute to the increasing number of leishmaniasis cases in this area.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Re-emergence of human leishmaniasis in northern Italy, 2004 to 2022: a retrospective analysis

Todeschini,

Musti,

Pandolfi

et al. 2024

Eurosurveillance

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Human leishmaniasis is a protozoan disease transmitted by sand flies and endemic in the Mediterranean region. In Italy, leishmaniasis is present in the south and the western coastal regions, with an epidemic peak detected in northern Italy in the early 1970s. Aim To examine temporal trends, and demographic, clinical, geographical and environmental features of human leishmaniasis cases recorded by the local health unit (LHU) of Bologna, northern Italy. Methods In this retrospective observational study, we analysed human leishmaniasis cases recorded from 2004 to 2022 within the Bologna LHU. We also conducted serological investigations for canine leishmaniasis in owned dogs living near the place of infection of human cases. Results In total, 173 cases of human leishmaniasis were detected, and 154 cases were considered autochthonous. An increase of human cases was observed since 2004, with incidence peaks above 2 cases/100,000 inhabitants in 2013, 2018 and 2022; epidemic peaks were preceded by dry summers. Most cases lived in the plain and hilly areas less than 400 m above sea level and many resided in isolated housing, in city outskirts, and/or near uncultivated areas, watercourses and railway sections. The incidence of canine leishmaniasis did not increase in the study period. Conclusion An epidemic of human leishmaniasis with fluctuating annual numbers of cases, probably related to environmental and climatic factors, was identified in the Bologna LHU. Understanding the risk factors and the environmental characteristics related to places of infection is crucial to evaluate the public health implications of leishmaniasis.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Re-emergence of human leishmaniasis in northern Italy, 2004 to 2022: a retrospective analysis

Todeschini,

Musti,

Pandolfi

et al. 2024

Eurosurveillance

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The small sample size of other species prevented a real assessment of the current prevalence in rodents in the study area. Recently, anthropophilic rodents have been found to be infected at a prevalence of 11% in plain areas of RER [39], which are historically less involved in human leishmaniasis than the foothill areas. However, the increase in seasonal abundance and the distribution of sand flies due to climate change, together with the detection of Leishmania DNA from lowland sand flies [40], indicate that the role of rodents in the epidemiology of leishmaniasis in RER needs to be monitored and further investigated.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wildlife Hosts of <em>Leishmania Infantum</em> in a Re-Emerging Focus of Human Leishmaniasis, in Emilia-Romagna, Northeast Italy

Taddei¹,

Bregoli²,

Galletti³

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the last decade, an upsurge of human leishmaniasis has been reported in the Emilia-Romagna region, Northeast Italy. Epidemiologic data raised doubts about the role of dogs as the main reservoirs for Leishmania infantum. In the present study, a total of 1,077 wild animals were screened for L. infantum DNA in earlobe and spleen samples from 2019 to 2022. The lymph nodes were tested only in the 23 animals already positive in the earlobe and/or spleen. A total of 71 (6.6%) animals resulted positive in at least one of the sampled tissues, including 3/18 (16.7%) wolves, 6/39 (15.4%) European hares, 38/309 (12.3%) roe deer, 1/11 (9.1%) red deer, 8 (4.9%) wild boars, 13/319 (4.1%) red foxes, 1/54 (1.9%) porcupine, and 1/59 (1.7%) European badger. Most of the infected animals (62/71) tested positive only in the earlobe tissue, just 4 animals (2 roe deer and 2 wild boars) tested positive only in the spleen, and 5 animals (3 roe deer and 2 red foxes) resulted positive for both tissues. L. infantum DNA was detected in the lymph nodes of 6/23 ani-mals. L. infantum detection occurred in all seasons associated with low real-time PCR Ct values. Further research is needed in order to clarify the role of wildlife in the re-emerging focus of leishmaniasis in Northeast Italy.

show abstract

Detection of Leishmania sp. kDNA in questing Ixodes ricinus (Acari, Ixodidae) from the Emilia-Romagna Region in northeastern Italy

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To date, sand flies (Phlebotominae) are the only recognized biological vectors of Leishmania infantum, the causative agent of human visceral leishmaniasis, which is endemic in the Mediterranean basin and also widespread in Central and South America, the Middle East, and Central Asia. Dogs are the main domestic reservoir of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis, and the role of secondary vectors such as ticks and fleas and particularly Rhipicephalus sanguineus (the brown dog tick) in transmitting L. infantum has been investigated. In the present paper, the presence of Leishmania DNA was investigated in questing Ixodes ricinus ticks collected from 4 rural areas included in three parks of the Emilia-Romagna Region (north-eastern Italy), where active foci of human visceral leishmaniasis have been identified. The analyses were performed on 236 DNA extracts from 7 females, 6 males, 72 nymph pools, and 151 larvae pools. Four samples (1.7%) (i.e., one larva pool, 2 nymph pools, and one adult male) tested positive for Leishmania kDNA. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the presence of Leishmania kDNA in questing I. ricinus ticks collected from a rural environment. This finding in unfed larvae, nymphs, and adult male ticks supports the hypothesis that L. infantum can have both transstadial and transovarial passage in I. ricinus ticks. The potential role of I. ricinus ticks in the sylvatic cycle of leishmaniasis should be further investigated.

show abstract

Survey on the presence of Leishmania sp. in peridomestic rodents from the Emilia-Romagna Region (North-Eastern Italy)

Cited by 9 publications

References 15 publications

Re-emergence of human leishmaniasis in northern Italy, 2004 to 2022: a retrospective analysis

Re-emergence of human leishmaniasis in northern Italy, 2004 to 2022: a retrospective analysis

Wildlife Hosts of <em>Leishmania Infantum</em> in a Re-Emerging Focus of Human Leishmaniasis, in Emilia-Romagna, Northeast Italy

Detection of Leishmania sp. kDNA in questing Ixodes ricinus (Acari, Ixodidae) from the Emilia-Romagna Region in northeastern Italy

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About