Detection of Leishmania infantum DNA and antibodies against Anaplasma spp., Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. and Ehrlichia cani
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Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica Open Access
Detection of Leishmania infantum DNA and antibodies against Anaplasma spp., Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. and Ehrlichia canis in a dog kennel in South‑Central Romania Cristina Daniela Cazan1* , Angela Monica Ionică1,2, Ioana Adriana Matei1,3, Gianluca D’Amico1, Clara Muñoz4, Eduardo Berriatua4 and Mirabela Oana Dumitrache1
Abstract Canine vector-borne diseases are caused by pathogens transmitted by arthropods including ticks, mosquitoes and sand flies. Many canine vector-borne diseases are of zoonotic importance. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of vector-borne infections caused by Dirofilaria immitis, Ehrlichia canis, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, Anaplasma spp. and Leishmania infantum in a dog kennel in Argeș County, Romania. Dog kennels are shelters for stray dogs with no officially registered owners that are gathered to be neutered and/or boarded for national/international adoptions by various public or private organizations. The international dog adoptions might represent a risk in the transmission of pathogens into new regions. In this context, a total number of 149 blood samples and 149 conjunctival swabs from asymptomatic kennel dogs were assessed using serology and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Antibodies against B. burgdorferi s.l. were detected in one dog (0.6%), anti-Anaplasma antibodies were found in five dogs (3.3%), while ten dogs (6.7%) tested positive for D. immitis antigen. Overall, 20.1% (30/149) of dogs were positive for L. infantum DNA. All samples were seronegative for anti-Leishmania antibodies. When adopting dogs from this region of Romania, owners should be aware of possible infection with especially L. infantum. The travel of infected dogs may introduce the infection to areas where leishmaniasis is not present. Keywords: Canine vector-borne diseases, Dogs, Epidemiology, Kennel, Leishmania infantum Findings Canine vector-borne diseases (CVBDs) are currently an emerging problem due to the zoonotic character of some pathogens, for which dogs can serve as sentinels of human infection [1]. CVBDs are mainly caused by various species of bacteria and parasites, transmitted to dogs by arthropod vectors, especially ticks, mosquitoes or sand flies [2]. Among some of the major CVBD agents *Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca, Calea Mănăștur 3‑5, 400372 Cluj‑Napoca, Romania Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
that can infect dogs are the nematode Dirofilaria immitis, bacteria such as Ehrlichia canis, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, and the protozoan Leishmania infantum [3]. Evidence of northward and eastward expansion of L. infantum in non-endemic areas of Europe has been recorded, including in Romania [4]. In 2014, after 80 years with no data, a case of canine leishmaniasis (CanL) was described in Romania, raisi
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