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A nationwide survey of Leishmania infantum infection in cats and associated risk factors in Italy.
- Source :
- PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 13, Iss 7, p e0007594 (2019)
- Publication Year :
- 2019
- Publisher :
- Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2019.
-
Abstract
- Though scantly investigated, Leishmania infantum infection and clinical cases of leishmaniasis in cats have been recently reported in several countries of the Mediterranean basin, with large variability in prevalence data. A major limitation in the comparability of the data available is attributed to the differences in diagnostic techniques employed and cat populations sampled. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of L. infantum infection in owned cats across Italy by serological and molecular tests and the identification of potential risk factors. Blood samples from 2,659 cats from northern (n = 1,543), central (n = 471) and southern (n = 645) Italy were tested for antibodies against L. infantum, by an immunofluorescence antibody test and for the parasites' DNA, by real-time PCR. Samples were additionally screened for feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) proviral DNAs. An overall cumulative L. infantum prevalence of 3.9% was recorded by serology (3.3%) and/or qPCR (0.8%), with a higher rate (10.5%) in southern Italy. The risk of L. infantum infection in cats was significantly associated to the geographical areas (South vs North and Centre; p
- Subjects :
- Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine
RC955-962
Public aspects of medicine
RA1-1270
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 19352727 and 19352735
- Volume :
- 13
- Issue :
- 7
- Database :
- Directory of Open Access Journals
- Journal :
- PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- edsdoj.3b5f4f496b6a4fa196bc2a00775934bf
- Document Type :
- article
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0007594