Publication: Evidence for widespread Leishmania infantum infection among wild carnivores in L. infantum periendemic northern
Spain
Authors
Del Rio, L. ; Chitimia, L. ; Cubas, A. ; Victoriano, I. ; De la Rúa, P. ; Gerrikagoitia, X. ; Barral, M. ; Munoz-García, C.I. ; Goyena Salgado, María Elena ; García-Martínez, D. ; Fisa, R. ; Riera, C. ; Murcia, L. ; Segovia Hernández, Manuel ; Berriatua Fernández de Larrea, Eduardo
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Publisher
Elsevier
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Description
© 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. This document is the Published version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Preventive Veterinary Medicine. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2013.12.001
Abstract
Leishmania spp. infection was investigated in tissue samples of wild carnivores from the Spanish Basque Country (BC), by PCR and DNA sequencing. The region is at the northern periphery of Leishmania infantum endemic Iberian Peninsula and infection in the dog (reservoir) or other species has not been previously reported. Leishmania kinetoplast DNA was detected by real-time PCR (rtPCR) in 28% (44/156) of animals. Specifically, in 26% of Eurasian badgers (n = 53), 29% of foxes (n = 48), 29% of stone martens (n = 21) and in 25–50% of less numerous species including genets, wild cats, pole cats, European mink and weasels.
Infected animals particularly badgers, were most prevalent in the southernmost province of the BC (Araba)in areas dominated by arable land. Subsequent amplification and sequencing of a fragment of the rRNA internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) from a subset of rtPCR positives samples confirmed the species as L. infantum, showing a high sequence homogeneity with ITS2 sequences of L. infantum from dogs and humans from southern Spain. In summary, this study reports for the first time L. infantum infection in wild carnivores from
the BC including in stone martens, pole cats and minks in which infection has not been previously described. It supports the need to study infection in dogs and people in this region and is an example of the value of infection surveillance in wildlife to assess potential risks in the domestic environment and their role in spreading infections in non-endemic areas.
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