Napoli Ettore, De Benedetto Giovanni, Ciuca Lavinia, Bosco Antonio, Lia Riccardo Paolo, Veneziano Vincenzo, Bezerra Santos Marcos Antônio, Otranto Domenico, Rinaldi Laura, Brianti Emanuele
Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Napoli, Napoli, Italy.
Front Vet Sci. 2023 May 4;10:1162403. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1162403. eCollection 2023.
In recent decades, the number of autochthonous cases and foci of in dogs from southern regions has increased considerably, suggesting that the distribution of the species is not limited to northern Italian regions. This epidemiological picture emerges from case reports or studies in specific locations where outbreaks of heartworm disease have occasionally been reported together with the presence of mosquito vectors. To obtain a more comprehensive picture of the current distribution of . in southern Italy, a multicenter cross-sectional survey of canine filariasis was conducted. Owned and sheltered dogs ( = 1,987) were included in the survey regardless their breed, attitude and/or sex. All included dogs were older than 1 year and had no history of chemoprophylactic treatment against filarioses. A blood sample was collected from enrolled dogs and screened by modified Knott's test and, when positive, tested using . specific ELISA rapid test (SNAP 4DX, IDEXX). The overall microfilaremia prevalence was 17% ( = 338) being single-species infection (92.6%) more common that mixed (7.4%). Remarkably, . was the most frequent species detected with an overall prevalence of 11.4% ( = 227), followed by ( = 74; 3.7%), and ( = 12; 0.6%). Sheltered dogs were significantly more infected by . , as well as mongrel dogs and animals housed in rural areas. Data here reported indicate that . is largely present in southern Italy, raising awareness about the necessity of proper screening and chemoprophylactic treatments in exposed animals.
近几十年来，意大利南部地区犬类本土病例和病灶数量大幅增加，这表明该物种的分布并不局限于意大利北部地区。这种流行病学情况源于病例报告或特定地点的研究，在这些地方偶尔报告有心丝虫病爆发以及蚊子媒介的存在。为了更全面地了解意大利南部当前的分布情况，开展了一项犬丝虫病多中心横断面调查。拥有的和收容所的犬（n = 1987）被纳入调查，无论其品种、习性和/或性别。所有纳入的犬年龄均超过1岁，且没有针对丝虫病的化学预防治疗史。从登记的犬只采集血样，通过改良的Knott试验进行筛查，阳性时使用特定的ELISA快速检测（SNAP 4DX，IDEXX）进行检测。总体微丝蚴血症患病率为17%（n = 338），单物种感染（92.6%）比混合感染（7.4%）更常见。值得注意的是，检测到的最常见物种是，总体患病率为11.4%（n = 227），其次是（n = 74；3.7%），以及（n = 12；0.6%）。收容所的犬感染的情况明显更严重，杂种犬和农村地区饲养的动物也是如此。此处报告的数据表明，在意大利南部大量存在，提高了人们对在暴露动物中进行适当筛查和化学预防治疗必要性的认识。
