Department of Veterinary Public Health, National School of Public Health, Athens, Greece.
Zoonoses Public Health. 2010 Dec;57(7-8):e23-5. doi: 10.1111/j.1863-2378.2009.01264.x.
Leishmania infantum and Leishmania tropica are the species responsible for visceral leishmaniasis and cutaneous leishmaniasis respectively. In Greece, both diseases are endemic. The dog is considered the main reservoir of L. infantum, whereas the role of other animals for both L. infantun and L. tropica is unknown. Spleens from wild Rattus norvegicus, live trapped in Greece, were examined for the presence of Leishmania parasites by PCR. Out of 16 samples examined, only one was found positive for L. infantum with scant amount of parasitic DNA present. This is the first documented case of detection of L. infantum in R. norvegicus in Greece. The results of this preliminary study indicate that R. norvegicus is unlikely to be a reservoir for Leishmania parasites in Greece.
利什曼原虫婴儿和利什曼原虫热带分别是内脏利什曼病和皮肤利什曼病的致病物种。在希腊，这两种疾病都是地方性的。狗被认为是利什曼原虫婴儿的主要宿主，而其他动物对利什曼原虫婴儿和利什曼原虫热带的作用尚不清楚。通过 PCR 检测，从希腊活捕的野生挪威鼠的脾脏中检查是否存在利什曼原虫寄生虫。在检查的 16 个样本中，只有一个样本对利什曼原虫婴儿呈阳性，且寄生虫 DNA 含量很少。这是在希腊首次记录到挪威鼠携带利什曼原虫婴儿的案例。这项初步研究的结果表明，在希腊，挪威鼠不太可能成为利什曼原虫寄生虫的宿主。
