Remesar Susana, Cano-Terriza David, Morrondo Patrocinio, Oleaga Álvaro, Moroni Barbara, Santos Nuno, Orusa Riccardo, Guardone Lisa, Díaz Pablo, García-Dios David, Jiménez-Ruiz Saúl, Ferreira-E-Silva Joana, Gonzálvez Moisés, Robetto Serena, García-Bocanegra Ignacio
Grupo INVESAGA, Departamento de Patología Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Lugo 27002, Spain; IBADER, Instituto de Biodiversidade Agraria e Desenvolvemento Rural, Lugo, Spain.
Departamento de Sanidad Animal, Grupo de Investigación en Sanidad Animal y Zoonosis (GISAZ), UIC Zoonosis y Enfermedades Emergentes ENZOEM, Universidad de Córdoba, Córdoba 14014, Spain; CIBERINFEC, ISCIII CIBER de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid 28029, Spain.
Vet Microbiol. 2025 Aug;307:110579. doi: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2025.110579. Epub 2025 Jun 3.
In Europe, studies on tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) in wolves are limited, primarily focusing on one population. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of TBPs in grey wolves (Canis lupus) from Spain (n = 129), Italy (n = 113), and Portugal (n = 43) between 2001 and 2023. The presence of Anaplasma spp., Ehrlichia spp., Hepatozoon spp. and piroplasm DNA was analyzed in spleen samples, and risk factors for Hepatozoon canis prevalence were evaluated using a generalized linear model. Overall, 93.3 % (266/285) wolves tested positive to at least one TBP, being H. canis the most prevalent (91.6 %). Babesia canis (1.8 %), Anaplasma phagocytophilum (1.4 %), and Babesia capreoli (0.7 %) were detected in small percentages and Ehrlichia spp. and Theileria spp. were not found. Coinfections involving H. canis + B. canis (1.8 %) as well as A. phagocytophilum + B. capreoli (0.4 %) were detected. Hepatozoon canis prevalence was significantly higher in Spain than in Portugal and it was higher in young compared to subadult individuals. The phylogenetic analysis showed the existence of well-defined clades of H. canis. The high prevalence of H. canis indicates that this pathogen is endemic in wolves from these three countries, whereas the importance of Anaplasma, Ehrlichia and piroplasm species seems to be negligible. Our results show a high nucleotide diversity among the H. canis sequences. In addition, our data reveals that wolves from the study countries are infected with TBPs, which could be of health concern. These findings highlight the importance of performing epidemiological studies in wildlife.
在欧洲，关于狼体内蜱传病原体（TBP）的研究有限，主要集中在一个种群。本研究旨在评估2001年至2023年间西班牙（n = 129）、意大利（n = 113）和葡萄牙（n = 43）灰狼（Canis lupus）体内TBP的流行情况。分析了脾脏样本中无形体属、埃立克体属、肝簇虫属和梨形虫DNA的存在情况，并使用广义线性模型评估犬肝簇虫流行的风险因素。总体而言，93.3%（266/285）的狼对至少一种TBP检测呈阳性，其中犬肝簇虫最为普遍（91.6%）。检测到小比例的犬巴贝斯虫（1.8%）、嗜吞噬细胞无形体（1.4%）和山羊巴贝斯虫（0.7%），未发现埃立克体属和泰勒虫属。检测到犬肝簇虫+犬巴贝斯虫（1.8%）以及嗜吞噬细胞无形体+山羊巴贝斯虫（0.4%）的混合感染。犬肝簇虫在西班牙的流行率显著高于葡萄牙，且在幼狼中的流行率高于亚成年个体。系统发育分析显示存在明确的犬肝簇虫进化枝。犬肝簇虫的高流行率表明该病原体在这三个国家的狼中呈地方流行性，而无形体属、埃立克体属和梨形虫属物种的重要性似乎可以忽略不计。我们的结果显示犬肝簇虫序列之间存在高度的核苷酸多样性。此外，我们的数据表明，来自研究国家的狼感染了TBP，这可能对健康构成威胁。这些发现凸显了在野生动物中开展流行病学研究的重要性。
