Diakou Anastasia, Di Cesare Angela, Barros Luciano A, Morelli Simone, Halos Lenaig, Beugnet Frederic, Traversa Donato
Laboratory of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Teaching Veterinary Hospital, Località Piano d'Accio snc, 64100, Teramo, Italy.
Parasit Vectors. 2015 Nov 14;8:590. doi: 10.1186/s13071-015-1200-z.
Despite the evidence that Mediterranean Europe offers suitable conditions for the biology of felid respiratory metastrongyloids, no updated data on the presence of felid lungworms are available for Greece. Although the cat lungworm Aelurostrongylus abstrusus is considered as enzootic in domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus) living in some areas of continental Greece, conversely, Troglostrongylus brevior, has only been reported in the island of Crete. The present study aimed to evaluate the occurrence of Aelurostrongylus abstrusus and Troglostrongylus brevior in domestic cats from four different Greek locations including islands where European wildcats (Felis silvestris silvestris), believed to be the natural reservoir of T. brevior, are considered absent.
Faeces were collected from 125 stray cats in the city of Athens, and in Crete, Mykonos and Skopelos Islands, and examined by copromicroscopic techniques for the presence of lungworm larvae. When present, larvae were morphologically and molecularly identified.
The occurrence of A. abstrusus and T. brevior was confirmed in 10 (8 %) and 7 (5.6 %) of the samples, respectively. In particular, T. brevior was detected in domestic cats in the city of Athens, and in Mykonos and Skopelos Islands, where wildcats are not present.
This information illustrates that T. brevior may infect domestic cats regardless of the presence of the natural host. Considering the relevant clinical impact of this nematode especially in young animals, it is advisable to include troglostrongylosis in the differential diagnosis of cat respiratory diseases also where this parasite is unexpected.
尽管有证据表明地中海欧洲为猫科动物呼吸道后圆线虫的生存提供了适宜条件，但希腊尚无关于猫肺虫存在情况的最新数据。虽然猫肺虫——隐匿猫后圆线虫在希腊大陆某些地区的家猫（家猫）中被认为是地方性流行，但相反，短管圆线虫仅在克里特岛有报道。本研究旨在评估希腊四个不同地点（包括一些岛屿）的家猫中隐匿猫后圆线虫和短管圆线虫的感染情况，这些岛屿被认为没有欧洲野猫（欧洲野猫），而欧洲野猫被认为是短管圆线虫的天然宿主。
从雅典市、克里特岛、米科诺斯岛和斯科派洛斯岛的125只流浪猫中收集粪便，并用粪便显微镜检查技术检查是否存在肺虫幼虫。如有幼虫存在，则进行形态学和分子鉴定。
分别在10份（8%）和7份（5.6%）样本中确认存在隐匿猫后圆线虫和短管圆线虫。特别是，在雅典市以及米科诺斯岛和斯科派洛斯岛的家猫中检测到了短管圆线虫，而这些岛屿没有野猫。
这一信息表明，无论天然宿主是否存在，短管圆线虫都可能感染家猫。考虑到这种线虫对尤其是幼龄动物的相关临床影响，在这种寄生虫意想不到出现的地方，也建议在猫呼吸道疾病的鉴别诊断中纳入管圆线虫病。
