Department of public health, Maragheh University of Medical Sciences, Maragheh, Iran.
Deptaetment of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Vet Med Sci. 2022 Sep;8(5):1898-1903. doi: 10.1002/vms3.846. Epub 2022 May 27.
Zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is caused by Leishmania infantum, of which dogs are the main reservoir. VL is endemic in the Middle East, also in some parts of Iran. Following reports of new cases of VL in children in Maragheh County, the non-endemic area of the disease, we encouraged to conduct a preliminary study on domestic dogs and cats to identify their potential role as reservoirs for the disease.
This study was conducted during a period of 3 years from 2018 to 2021. Two hundred ownership dogs and 25 cats from Maragheh County, north-west of Iran, were randomly screened. Blood samples were collected. A direct agglutination test (DAT) was used for the detection of anti-L. infantum antibodies. Furthermore, buffy coat samples from the L. infantum seropositive animals were examined to detect parasite presence using polymerase chain reaction.
Out of the total of 200 ownership dogs evaluated, 170 (85%) were male and 30 (15%) were female with a mean age of 4.3 years. Anti-L. infantum antibodies (IgG cut-off ≥ 1:320) were observed in 3.5% of dogs (7/200) by the DAT test. All seropositive dogs were identified in the first year of examination. Regarding molecular approaches in seropositive dogs, two samples were positive for a 565 bp kDNA minicircle gene specific for L. infantum. During the study period, no seropositive case was detected in the cats examined.
This study shows that the domestic cycle of L. infantum has been established in the studied region. It is necessary to increase the awareness and monitoring of the disease with the study of wild reservoirs periodically.
动物源内脏利什曼病（VL）由利什曼原虫引起，犬类是其主要宿主。VL 在地中海东部流行，在伊朗的一些地区也有流行。在报告了马拉盖县（Maragheh County）非流行区儿童新的 VL 病例后，我们鼓励对当地的犬类和猫类进行初步研究，以确定它们作为疾病宿主的潜在作用。
本研究于 2018 年至 2021 年期间进行，共对来自伊朗西北部马拉盖县的 200 只犬和 25 只猫进行了随机筛查。采集血液样本，应用直接凝集试验（DAT）检测抗利什曼原虫抗体。此外，对利什曼原虫血清阳性动物的白细胞样本进行检测，使用聚合酶链反应（PCR）检测寄生虫的存在。
在评估的 200 只犬中，170 只为雄性（85%），30 只为雌性（15%），平均年龄为 4.3 岁。DAT 试验显示，3.5%（7/200）的犬存在抗利什曼原虫抗体（IgG 截断值≥1:320）。所有血清阳性犬均在检查的第一年被发现。在血清阳性犬的分子检测方面，2 个样本对利什曼原虫 565 bp 小环 kDNA 基因呈阳性。在研究期间，未在检查的猫中发现血清阳性病例。
本研究表明，在研究地区已经建立了利什曼原虫的家庭循环。有必要提高对疾病的认识，定期监测，并研究野生动物宿主。
