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Cutaneous skin lesion over the carpus in dog case no. 1 infected with Leishmania major. Image taken at 6 months of age prior to treatment
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Background
Infection and clinical disease associated with Leishmania major and Leishmania tropica, two common agents of human cutaneous leishmaniosis, have rarely been reported in dogs. This study describes dogs infected with these Leishmania spp. prevalent in the Middle East and North Africa, and compares the serological response of dogs infected...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... from skin lesions on its face and legs when it was brought to the shelter 3 weeks earlier. The skin le- sions consisted of unilateral periocular alopecia with ul- ceration, scales and serous discharge around the right eye ( Fig. 1a), ulceration in the left hind foot pad and ul- cerative scaly lesions on the left front leg over the carpus ( Fig. 2) and left hind leg over the tarsus. Physical exam- ination at the veterinary clinic was otherwise normal. A complete blood count (CBC) indicated mild normocytic normochromic anemia with a packed cell volume (PCV) of 31% (reference range 32-55%) and serum biochemis- try panel was within normal limits. Skin scrapings from the lesions ...
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Background
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) could progress to secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), which is a rare but life-threatening condition with poor prognosis. So far, the clinical and laboratory characteristics of VL associated HLH have not been well elucidated.
Method and findings
In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the c...
Citations
... parasites and is transmitted by the bite of infected female Phlebotominae (Diptera, Psychodidae) sandflies (Akhoundi et al., 2016). Although cases of CanL due to Leishmania major and Leishmania tropica infection are documented (Baneth et al., 2017), CanL caused by Leishmania infantum is considered the most important vector-borne parasitic diseases of dogs in Europe (Alvar et al., 2004). ...
Leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease found in many parts of southern Europe, is transmitted in both humans and canines through the bite of phlebotomine sandflies, and can present in a variety of ways, such as cutaneous, mucocutaneous, diffuse, and visceral. In Bulgaria there are endemic areas of canine leishmaniasis, with sporadic cases in humans. However, no detailed studies of the animal population and vectors have been performed. Here we describe a few clinical cases of canine visceral leishmaniasis in two districts in western Bulgaria: one endemic and one without previously detected cases in humans or dogs. Diagnosis was confirmed serologically and molecularly using both real time and conventional PCR. Specific anti-leishmanial antibodies were confirmed in three of the cases via ELISA, with 50% of them returning extremely high values. In the majority of the cases DNA fragments were detected in the skin or lymph node aspirate but not in the blood. This paper highlights the need for further studies updating the current knowledge on the epidemiology, diagnosis, and control of visceral leishmaniasis in the reservoir host population.
... In fact, several other zoonotic Leishmania spp. have been detected in dogs worldwide [6][7][8], particularly in the Americas [9,10]. In more recent years, the detection of distinct Leishmania spp. in dogs has been facilitated by the application of advanced DNA sequencing methodologies, including next-generation sequencing and nanopore sequencing [11,12]. ...
Canine leishmaniasis is a widespread disease on the American continent, with cases reported from Uruguay to the USA and Canada. While numerous Leishmania spp. have been reported in dogs in this region, Leishmania infantum and Leishmania braziliensis are the most common etiological agents of canine leishmaniasis from a continental perspective. Nonetheless, other species may predominate locally in some countries. The participation of dogs in the transmission cycle of various Leishmania spp. has long been speculated, but evidence indicates that their role as reservoirs of species other than L. infantum is negligible. Various native wildlife (e.g., small rodents, marsupials, sloths, and monkeys) are, in fact, the primary hosts of Leishmania spp. in the Americas. In this review, an updated list of Leishmania spp. infecting dogs in the Americas is presented, along with their distribution and clinical and zoonotic importance
Graphical Abstract
... Furthermore, in Israel, sera from dogs infected by Leishmania major, Leishmania tropica and L. infantum were found to be reactive by ELISA, with crude promastigote antigen not being distinctive between Leishmania spp. [25]. ...
Background
Visceral leishmaniosis caused by infection with the zoonotic protozoan Leishmania infantum is a life-threatening disease affecting dogs and humans. The sympatric occurrence of L. infantum and Leishmania tarentolae in an area of southern Italy endemic for canine leishmaniosis, where dogs are also exposed to the latter species, suggests the persistence of herpetophilic L. tarentolae in a non-permissive host, therefore raising questions about the performance of serological diagnostic tests routinely employed.
Methods
The diagnostic performance of serological tests such as the immunofluorescence antibody test (IFAT), two commercial immunoenzymatic assays (i.e. NovaTec VetLine Leishmania ELISA® and rK39 ICT®) and an in-house enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was evaluated in healthy dogs seropositive to L. infantum, whereas the only IFAT available was used to detect antibodies to L. tarentolae.
Results
With the IFAT, out of a total of 104 dogs tested, 15 were seronegative for L. infantum of which three were L. tarentolae seropositive‚ and 89 were L. infantum seropositive. Of the latter 89 dogs, representing the highest proportion of seropositive animals (85.6%) detected by IFAT‚ 66 were also seropositive for L. tarentolae. Cohen's kappa (κ) agreement coefficient between the IFAT results and those of all the other tests was very low, and the IFAT results were significantly different from those of all the other serological tests as calculated by Cochran's Q-test. Analysis using the Bayesian latent class (Bayes-LCA) showed that the in-house ELISA and IFAT contributed the most towards identifying infected and non-infected dogs, respectively. The IFAT test showed low positive predictive value (59.5%), but high negative predictive value (100%).
Conclusions
These results demonstrate that the IFAT for L. infantum, although highly sensitive, may not be considered a useful diagnostic test due to its low specificity. Therefore, an accurate serological tool with high specificity is mandatory for avoiding cross-reaction in epidemiological contexts where the two species of Leishmania occur in sympatry.
Graphical Abstract
... Conversely, the literature has described that in humans and dogs, visceral/systemic disease manifestations predominantly relate to the L. donovani complex (L. donovani and L. infantum), whereas tegumentary manifestations are caused by dermotropic species such as L. tropica, L. amazonensis or L. braziliensis (Solano-Gallego et al., 2011;Alvar et al., 2012;Baneth et al., 2017;Lago et al., 2019). Studies on equine leishmaniasis (EL) from different regions have reported a predominance of cutaneous lesions regardless of the causative Leishmania species (Limeira et al., 2019;Gazzonis et al., 2022). ...
Leishmania infantum infections have long been described in humans and dogs worldwide, but characterization of equine cases remains scarce. We describe the clinical evolution of a natural L. infantum infection to contribute to the diagnostic knowledge and epidemiology of equine leishmaniasis (EL). An auction-acquired four-year-old Mangalarga Marchador mare from Pernambuco state, presented a few subcutaneous nodules on the head and neck upon arrival at the purchaser's stud at Bahia state, in November of 2019. They progressed to multiple ulcerated and non-ulcerated nodules and spread to both right limbs in seven weeks. Hematology revealed anemia, lymphocytosis, monocytosis, and elevated plasma fibrinogen. Histopathology of the biopsied nodules identified a granulomatous dermatitis with macrophages containing Leishmania amastigotes. PCR detected Leishmania in skin lesions, but not in blood or spleen aspirate samples; ITS1 PCR-RFLP and DNA sequencing confirmed L. infantum species. A topical antiseptic and insect-repellent therapy and a monthly follow-up were established. All lesions improved progressively, without specific anti-Leishmania treatment, and 14 months later there was a consistent resolution. This first description of EL by L. infantum in an endemic area is relevant to emphasize the need for epidemiological studies, and to enhance clinicians' awareness for differential diagnosis.
... The screening was done using an ELISA developed at the vector borne diseases laboratory, Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Rehovot, Israel (Baneth et al., 2017). Briefly, serological analysis was carried out as follows: Test sera were diluted in dilution buffer (50 mM phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) + 0.1% Tween 20 + 2% fetal calf serum) pH 7.2 at 1:100 dilution. ...
... Antibodies to L. infantum were detected in 26% to 37% in an endemic area of Spain (Solano-Gallego et al., 2001;Cabezón et al., 2010) and in 20% of dogs in Portugal (Cardoso et al., 2004). However, a possible explanation for the negative results in this study is that L. major reported as the main cause of human cutaneous leishmaniasis in west Africa (Kimutai et al., 2009) rather poorly or seldom elicits an immune response in infected dogs, therefore, giving a negative ELISA results even in dogs manifesting the clinical disease (Baneth et al., 2017). Likewise, it was reported that 37% of PCR positive dogs infected with L. infantum were seronegative (Solano-Gallego et al., 2001). ...
... Indeed, many infected dogs do not elicit humoral response to Leishmania spp. infection (Cabral et al., 1998;Baneth et al., 2016Baneth et al., , 2017. ...
Dogs are important sentinels for the surveillance of some zoonotic diseases including human leishmaniasis. To obtain information on the role of dogs in the epidemiology of leishmaniasis in Nigeria, 98 sera and 204 DNA samples obtained from dogs were screened for anti-leishmania antibodies and DNA of Leishmania spp. using the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and PCR, respectively. Initially, three out of the 98 sera samples had ELISA borderline optical density (OD) values and were retested. Two out of the three samples turned out to be negative while one sample gave yet a borderline OD value on a retest. A real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) targeting the 120-bp fragment of the minicircle kDNA of Leishmania spp. run on DNA extracted from EDTA preserved blood of the borderline positive serum failed to amplify the 120-bp sequence of Leishmania spp. In the second phase of the study, 204 DNA from dog blood samples were subjected to conventional PCR targeting the 300–350 bp of the internal transcribe spacer region 1 (ITS1) of Leishmania spp. None of the samples could be amplified (n = 204, 0%). Our study suggests that L. infantum is not prevalence in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria and this should be confirmed using a larger sample of local dogs tested using PCR methods in lymphoid tissue samples.
... Parasites & Vectors L. tarentolae infection in dogs in Italy [2,3]. In the Middle East, dogs suffer from clinical leishmaniosis mostly caused by L. infantum and more rarely due to L. major and L. tropica [4][5][6]. ...
... Although a few case descriptions of dogs with cutaneous leishmaniosis due to L. tropica and L. major have been published [5,13,14], and cat infection with L. infantum has also been described in a kennel in Israel where dogs and cats were housed together [15], there is no information about the prevalence of different species of Leishmania in dog and cat populations in Israel. A study on dog and cat infection with Leishmania spp. was therefore conducted in a focus of human L. tropica infection in central Israel with the aim of obtaining better insight into possible L. tropica infection in pets in an area where human infection is highly prevalent. ...
... Infection of dogs with L. infantum is well known in central Israel [1], and there have been a few reports of canine L. tropica infection in other parts of the country [5,13]. However, feline L. tropica infection has not been described before in Israel and has rarely been reported in detail from other countries [7,9,10]. ...
Background
Three species of Leishmania cause disease in humans in Israel and are endemic in the Middle East: Leishmania infantum, Leishmania tropica and Leishmania major. These species infect dogs and cats, but little is known about their prevalence in pet populations and their clinical manifestations. A study on dog and cat Leishmania infection was conducted in a focus of human L. tropica infection in central Israel with the aim of getting insight on leishmaniosis in pets in an area where human infection is highly prevalent.
Methods
Blood, demographic and clinical data were collected from dogs and cats brought for veterinary care in a focus of human L. tropica infection during 2018–2020. kDNA PCR and internal transcribed spacer1 high-resolution melt analysis PCR (ITS1 HRM PCR) with DNA sequencing were performed for the detection of Leishmania and species determination.
Results
Forty-three of 189 dogs (22.8%) and 44 of 152 cats (28.9%) were positive for Leishmania spp. infection by kDNA PCR. The ITS1 HRM PCR detected six dogs (3.3%) infected with L. infantum and one (0.5%) with L. tropica, whereas six cats (3.9%) were found infected by L. infantum and five (3.3%) by L. tropica. Four of the five L. tropica-positive cats suffered from weight loss, four had azotemia, two with mild and two with severe azotemia and progressive renal disease. Three cats had gingivostomatitis; three had skin lesions with abscess and ulcers in two and scales and hair loss in another cat, which was also FIV +. This is the first report of feline L. tropica infection in Israel. Clinical information on cats with this infection from previous studies elsewhere is scarce.
Conclusions
A high rate of Leishmania spp. infection, mostly estimated as sub-clinical, was found in dogs and cats admitted for veterinary care in an L. tropica focus. Among the animals in which infection could be characterized to the species level, more dogs were infected with L. infantum than with L. tropica while 5 of 11 cats were infected with L. tropica and had signs of systemic and skin disease not described before in feline L. tropica infection.
Graphical Abstract
... In our study, each CanL case is infected with one of the 4 strains of old world leishmania spp. and one of the dogs was infected with L. tropica which is an uncommon condition as L. tropica is the main causative agent for anthroponotic CL (Baneth et al., 2017). There have been several reports of VL cases caused by L. tropica which is also a rare event and the authors have an ongoing project about the molecular foundations of viscerotropism of L. tropica (Magill et al., 1993). ...
Objectives:
Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease and dogs may act as urban reservoirs. Turkey and most of the Mediterranean basin countries are endemic for leishmaniasis. In this study, it is aimed to report the autochthonous leishmaniasis cases, with all the components of the infection cycle (reservoir, vector, and the host) in a region close to Europe.
Methods:
Nine human and four canine autochthonous leishmaniasis cases were included in the study. Direct microscopy, culture methods, serological, and molecular tests were applied to the samples obtained from the cases.
Results:
VL and CL patients consisted of 2 L.infantum, 1 L. donovani, 2 L. tropica, and 2 L. tropica,1 L. major,1 L. infantum infected patients respectively. CanL cases were infected with L. infantum, L. donovani, L. tropica, and L. major.
Conclusions:
All the cases were autochthonous cases located in Manisa province. As Greece and all the Mediterranean basin countries in Europe share competent vectors, it is concluded that the detection of all 4 species of Leishmania parasites in such proximity to Europe poses an important public health threat for Europe. This study reports all four species of Leishmania spp., including L. major and L.donovani in close proximity to continental Europe.
... These negative CS qPCR results can be related to the low parasitic load at the collection site due to an adequate immune response controlling the spread of pathogen in tissues, such as mucous membranes and skin [9], and/or for serological cross-reactivity. Indeed, the co-infection with other trypanosomatids may induce seroconversion/increased antibody titre detected by serological testing in dogs resulting negative by L. infantum qPCR [42,43]. Recently, dogs were firstly found seropositive for L. tarentolae and L. infantum by IFAT in the same area of the present study [38], therefore suggesting a possible serological cross-reaction. ...
Conjunctival swabs (CS) are the most promising non-invasive samples for the diagnosis and the regular screening of Leishmania infantum infection in dogs although knowledge on their diagnostic performance is still inconclusive. This study evaluates CS real time-PCR (qPCR) analysis for the diagnosis of canine leishmaniosis (CanL) and its prognostic value in seropositive dogs from an endemic area. In October 2020 (T0), 26 dogs were enrolled, divided in two groups according to anti-L. infantum antibody titres (n = 13, group low titre (LT) and n = 13, group high titre (HT)), and followed-up in August 2021. At both timepoints, animals underwent clinical examination, complete blood count and biochemical analyses, and serological (indirect fluorescent antibody test) and molecular (CS and peripheral blood qPCR) testing. At T0, 10 out of 26 enrolled dogs were positive at CS qPCR, with the number of positive animals significantly higher in group HT than in LT. After 10 months, only 5 out of 21 dogs that completed the trial still tested CS qPCR positive, and none of them developed an active CanL based on clinical score and antibody titre. None of the dogs required any leishmanicidal and/or leishmaniostatic treatments. This prospective study showed unsatisfying diagnostic and prognostic performances of CS qPCR analysis in L. infantum seropositive asymptomatic dogs from an endemic area.
... Phlebotomus perniciosus is the main competent vector of L. infantum throughout the western Mediterranean basin, including southern Europe (Portugal, Spain, southern France, Italy and northwest Croatia) and Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia) (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, 2020). Recently, this sand fly species was shown experimentally to have potential competence to transmit Leishmania tropica (Bongiorno et al., 2019), a secondary agent of CanL in North Africa and Middle East (Baneth et al., 2017). Phlebotomus perniciosus is also the main representative of the Larroussius subgenus, consisting of morphologically and biologically close-related species proven L. infantum vectors in endemic areas of central and eastern Mediterranean, such as Phlebotomus neglectus, Phlebotomus perfiliewi and Phlebotomus tobbi (Alten et al., 2016). ...
Dogs are reservoir hosts of leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania infantum and transmitted by phlebotomine vectors. The effect of dinotefuran, pyriproxyfen and permethrin spot-on solution (Vectra®3D, Ceva Santé Animale, Libourne, France) on Leishmania transmissibility by naturally infected dogs via reared Phlebotomus perniciosus, was assessed. Dogs affected by leishmaniasis were submitted to xenodiagnosis and 6 infecting >10% of insects were treated topically on day 0. Antifeeding, insecticidal and anti-transmissibility effects were evaluated through xenodiagnoses performed on days 1, 7 and 28, using individual pre-treatment parameters as control. Feeding and mortality rates were assessed at 24 h, whereas promastigote infection, maturation and burden were assessed up to 96 h post blood meal (potentially infectious rate). On day 1, the anti-feeding efficacy was >95% in 4 dogs, insecticidal efficacy 100% in 4 dogs, and anti-transmissibility effect 100% in 6 dogs. Efficacy rates recorded on day 7 were very similar to day 1. On day 28, anti-feeding and insecticidal efficacy values were much broader, ranging 32.6–100% and 7.7–94.4%, respectively. Potentially infectious insects were recorded from two dogs, with sharp decrease in transmissibility rate as compared with pre-treatment condition. Altogether, Vectra®3D abrogated by >98% the potential Leishmania transmissibility by the examined pool of infected dogs over 1 month.
... Phlebotomus perniciosus (Diptera: Psychodidae) is a proven vector of L. infantum in the western and central Mediterranean subregion, including Portugal, Spain, southern France, Italy, and northwest Croatia in the EU, and Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia in north Africa (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, 2020). Recently, this sand fly species was shown to have potential competence in the transmission of Leishmania tropica (Bongiorno et al., 2019), an occasional agent of CanL in north Africa and the Middle East (Baneth et al., 2017). P. perniciosus is a major member of the Phlebotomus (Larroussius) subgenus, which includes close-related sand fly species involved in CanL transmission in parts of the Mediterranean littoral, namely Phlebotomus ariasi, Phlebotomus neglectus and Phlebotomus tobbi (Alten et al., 2016). ...
Dogs are reservoir hosts for Leishmania infantum, a protozoan parasite transmitted by phlebotomine sand flies. The anti-feeding and fast-killing efficacy of Scalibor® deltamethrin collars against experimental Phlebotomus perniciosus challenges on dogs was determined over 1 year. Two groups of 8 dogs each were fitted with placebo (control) or deltamethrin collars (treated) on Day 0 and exposed to sand flies approximately every 28 days up to Day 364. After each exposure, anti-feeding and fast-killing efficacy rates were determined by comparing blood-fed or live insects, respectively, in the treated vs. the control group. Blood-fed and live sand flies were significantly less in treated dogs as compared to control dogs at each assessment. The anti-feeding efficacy rate exceeded 90% except on Day 337 (89%) but increased again (96%) on Day 364. Fast killing efficacy was <74% over the study when considering all flies. However, this value increased cumulatively to 98% when only blood-fed flies were compared between groups. Scalibor® collars are highly effective at preventing P. perniciosus blood-feeding and in fast-killing flies taking a blood meal for up to 1 year after application. These strong and long-lasting effects are an important strategic component for L. infantum transmission control.
