Abstract
BackgroundCanine leishmaniasis is a severe, potentially life-threatening, systemic vector-borne disease of dogs caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania. Romania has been traditionally regarded as a non-endemic country for leishmaniasis with sporadic human disease cases. However, the recent report of an autochthonous canine leishmaniasis case (the first in the last 80 years) suggested the presence of an infection focus in the area of Râmnicu Vâlcea. The present study describes a survey of canine leishmaniasis in this geographical area with comparison to a georeferenced dataset of sand fly distribution based on historical literature records.MethodsThe study was carried out in Râmnicu Vâlcea and included samples (serum, blood and conjunctival swabs) collected from 80 dogs including client-owned dogs from two local practices and dogs from two public shelters. Serum anti-leishmanial antibodies were assessed by ELISA. All blood and conjunctival samples were assessed by real-time quantitative PCR, targeting the leishmanial kinetoplast minicircle DNA.ResultsThree dogs (3.7 %) were seropositive and another four (5.0 %) showed borderline results indicative of exposure or infection. TaqMan PCR was performed for all dogs, on both blood and conjunctival swabs. Seven dogs (8.7 %) were positive by conjunctival swab PCR and one dog (1.2 %) by blood PCR. None of the positive dogs presented clinical signs compatible with canine leishmaniasis.ConclusionsThis is the first study evaluating canine leishmaniasis in a dog population in Romania by both highly sensitive PCR and serology. Although the prevalence was relatively low compared to other endemic regions, our results clearly demonstrate the presence of a canine leishmaniasis focus in Romania.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-016-1583-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Canine leishmaniasis is a severe, potentially life-threatening, systemic vector-borne disease of dogs caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania
Canine leishmaniasis (CanL) is a severe zoonotic disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania
It is imperative that the presence of a CanL focus described in this study, as well as the possibility that other foci may exist, will be communicated to veterinary and public health officials in order to raise the awareness to this potentially fatal zoonosis. This is the first study to evaluate the prevalence of CanL in Romania by sensitive PCR and serology, in an area from which a recent clinical report of autochthonous infection was made
Summary
Canine leishmaniasis is a severe, potentially life-threatening, systemic vector-borne disease of dogs caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania. Canine leishmaniasis (CanL) is a severe zoonotic disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania. CanL is endemic in more than 70 countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas, occurring mainly in the Mediterranean region and South America. It is often diagnosed in non-endemic countries, where imported cases or sporadic autochthonous cases are increasingly. Autochthonous case reports in canids or epidemiological studies in countries from eastern Europe: Croatia [11], Bulgaria [12] and Hungary [13] suggest that the disease is spreading eastwards
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