A nationwide survey of Leishmania infantum infection in cats and associated risk factors in Italy.
Animals
Antibodies, Protozoan
/ blood
Cat Diseases
/ epidemiology
Cats
Female
Immunodeficiency Virus, Feline
/ genetics
Italy
/ epidemiology
Leishmania infantum
/ genetics
Leishmaniasis, Visceral
/ diagnosis
Leukemia Virus, Feline
/ genetics
Male
Molecular Diagnostic Techniques
/ veterinary
Multivariate Analysis
Prevalence
Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
/ veterinary
Regression Analysis
Risk Factors
Serologic Tests
/ veterinary
Surveys and Questionnaires
Journal
PLoS neglected tropical diseases
ISSN: 1935-2735
Titre abrégé: PLoS Negl Trop Dis
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 101291488
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
07 2019
07 2019
Historique:
received:
14
03
2019
accepted:
02
07
2019
revised:
30
07
2019
pubmed:
16
7
2019
medline:
7
1
2020
entrez:
16
7
2019
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
Though scantly investigated, Leishmania infantum infection and clinical cases of leishmaniasis in cats have been recently reported in several countries of the Mediterranean basin, with large variability in prevalence data. A major limitation in the comparability of the data available is attributed to the differences in diagnostic techniques employed and cat populations sampled. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of L. infantum infection in owned cats across Italy by serological and molecular tests and the identification of potential risk factors. Blood samples from 2,659 cats from northern (n = 1,543), central (n = 471) and southern (n = 645) Italy were tested for antibodies against L. infantum, by an immunofluorescence antibody test and for the parasites' DNA, by real-time PCR. Samples were additionally screened for feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) proviral DNAs. An overall cumulative L. infantum prevalence of 3.9% was recorded by serology (3.3%) and/or qPCR (0.8%), with a higher rate (10.5%) in southern Italy. The risk of L. infantum infection in cats was significantly associated to the geographical areas (South vs North and Centre; p<0.0001), age class (from 19 months to 6 years old vs ≤18 months old, p = 0.0003), neutering status (not neutered vs neutered, p = 0.0028) and FIV infection (p = 0.0051).Though the role of cats in the epidemiology of L. infantum is still debated, our findings indicate that cats are exposed to and/or infected by this protozoan, mainly in endemic regions of Italy. Hence, a standardization of procedures for a prompt diagnosis of L. infantum infection in cats and for screening cat population is crucial for a better understanding of the epidemiology of feline leishmaniasis, and of the potential role of cats in the transmission cycle of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis.
Identifiants
pubmed: 31306417
doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0007594
pii: PNTD-D-19-00384
pmc: PMC6667148
doi:
Substances chimiques
Antibodies, Protozoan
0
Types de publication
Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
e0007594Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
Dr. Bettina Schunack is employed by a commercial company, Bayer Animal Health GmBbH (Germany, Europe). The remaining authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
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