Spread of Vector-borne Diseases and Neglect of Leishmaniasis, Europe

Jean-Claude Dujardin,Ketty Soteriadou,Jean-Pierre Dedet,Marleen Boelaert,Carmen Cañavate,Yusuf Ozbel,Lenea Campino,Luigi Gradoni,Apostolos Mazeris

doi:10.3201/eid1407.071589

Abstract

The risk for reintroduction of some exotic vector-borne diseases in Europe has become a hot topic, while the reality of others is neglected at the public health policy level. Leishmaniasis is endemic in all southern countries of Europe, with approximately 700 autochthonous human cases reported each year (3,950 if Turkey is included). Asymptomatic cases have been estimated at 30-100/1 symptomatic case, and leishmaniasis has up to 25% seroprevalence in domestic dogs. Even though leishmaniasis is essentially associated with Leishmania infantum and visceral leishmaniasis, new species, such as L. donovani and L. tropica, might colonize European sand fly vectors. Drug-resistant L. infantum strains might be exported outside Europe through dogs. Despite this possibility, no coordinated surveillance of the disease exists at the European level. In this review of leishmaniasis importance in Europe, we would like to bridge the gap between research and surveillance and control.

Highlights

The risk for reintroduction of some exotic vector-borne diseases in Europe has become a hot topic, while the reality of others is neglected at the public health policy level
Leishmaniasis in Europe Leishmaniasis is a major vector-borne disease, which is endemic to 88 countries and is the only tropical vectorborne disease that has been endemic to southern Europe for decades
In southern Europe, most of the reported cases are due to zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (VL), which is the most dangerous form and is lethal when untreated

Summary

Introduction

The risk for reintroduction of some exotic vector-borne diseases in Europe has become a hot topic, while the reality of others is neglected at the public health policy level. We estimate that this corresponds to a total of ≈700 reported new cases per year for southern European countries (3,950 if Turkey is included; Table and Figure). Leishmaniasis situation in 7 disease-endemic countries of Europe (including Turkey)*

Results

Conclusion