Seroprevalence of Leishmania spp. in dogs in northern Serbia

Doroteja Marcic,Marina Zekic-Stosic,Smiljana Milosevic,Sara Savic,Ivan Pusic,Aleksandar Potkonjak,Suzana Tasic-Otasevic

doi:10.2298/vetgl201030015m

Abstract

Leishmaniosis is a zoonotic disease caused by Leishmania spp. Serbia was an endemic region for this disease until the second half of the 20th century. Nowadays, canine leishmaniosis appears to be a re-emerging vector-borne disease in Serbia. Its spread is enabled by the presence of Phlebotomus spp. sandflies in this region. The objective of this study was to establish the seroprevalence of Leishmania spp. in dogs being kept in shelters in Serbia and compare those that apply and those that do not apply prophylactic measures against arthropod vectors. This cross-sectional study involved 336 dogs in two regions in Northern Serbia during 2019-2020. A commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test was used to establish the prevalence of seropositive dogs. In the shelters that applied prophylactic measures against arthropod vectors, dogs were seronegative (n=52), while in those without these measures, 2.1% (6/284) were seropositive against Leishmania spp. In conclusion, the presence of dogs seropositive against Leishmania spp. in shelters that did not apply prophylactic measures may indicate that the local population of sandflies is a source of Leishmania spp. parasites.

Highlights

Leishmaniosis is a zoonotic vector-borne disease caused by parasites from the genus Leishmania
The disease was probably introduced to Serbia by troops of soldiers retreating through Greece and Macedonia during and after the Second World War (Milovanović and Popović, 1960), and it became endemic due to the presence of sandflies and poor hygienic and health conditions at that time (Saulic, 1949; Živkovic, 1980)
The first objective of this study is to establish the current seroprevalence of Leishmania spp. in dogs being kept in animal shelters in Northern Serbia, and compare those that apply and those that do not apply prophylactic measures against arthropod vectors

Summary

Introduction

Leishmaniosis is a zoonotic vector-borne disease caused by parasites from the genus Leishmania. It is spread by Phlebotomus spp. sandflies among dogs, cats, and wild animals such as rabbits or wild canids. Until the mid-decade of the last century, Serbia was endemic for human leishmaniosis (Milovanović and Popović, 1960). From 1945 to 1955, the disease spread from Southern to Northern Serbia following the canyons and river basins, being the main paths of human and animal migrations (Milovanović and Popović, 1960). Mortality was estimated to be higher than 30% (Djorić 1953; Milovanović and Popović, 1960)

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Conclusion