Taddei, R.; Bregoli, A.; Galletti, G.; Carra, E.; Fiorentini, L.; Fontana, M.C.; Frasnelli, M.; Musto, C.; Pupillo, G.; Reggiani, A.; Santi, A.; Rossi, A.; Tamba, M.; Calzolari, M.; Rugna, G. Wildlife Hosts of Leishmania infantum in a Re-Emerging Focus of Human Leishmaniasis, in Emilia-Romagna, Northeast Italy. Pathogens2022, 11, 1308.
Taddei, R.; Bregoli, A.; Galletti, G.; Carra, E.; Fiorentini, L.; Fontana, M.C.; Frasnelli, M.; Musto, C.; Pupillo, G.; Reggiani, A.; Santi, A.; Rossi, A.; Tamba, M.; Calzolari, M.; Rugna, G. Wildlife Hosts of Leishmania infantum in a Re-Emerging Focus of Human Leishmaniasis, in Emilia-Romagna, Northeast Italy. Pathogens 2022, 11, 1308.
Taddei, R.; Bregoli, A.; Galletti, G.; Carra, E.; Fiorentini, L.; Fontana, M.C.; Frasnelli, M.; Musto, C.; Pupillo, G.; Reggiani, A.; Santi, A.; Rossi, A.; Tamba, M.; Calzolari, M.; Rugna, G. Wildlife Hosts of Leishmania infantum in a Re-Emerging Focus of Human Leishmaniasis, in Emilia-Romagna, Northeast Italy. Pathogens2022, 11, 1308.
Taddei, R.; Bregoli, A.; Galletti, G.; Carra, E.; Fiorentini, L.; Fontana, M.C.; Frasnelli, M.; Musto, C.; Pupillo, G.; Reggiani, A.; Santi, A.; Rossi, A.; Tamba, M.; Calzolari, M.; Rugna, G. Wildlife Hosts of Leishmania infantum in a Re-Emerging Focus of Human Leishmaniasis, in Emilia-Romagna, Northeast Italy. Pathogens 2022, 11, 1308.
Abstract
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.
Keywords
Leishmania infantum; reservoir; wildlife; artiodactyls; roe deer; European hare; red fox; wild boar
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Immunology and Microbiology
Copyright:
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