Infection of sandflies by a cat naturally infected with Leishmania infantum
Despite the recent reports of feline leishmaniosis from Southern Europe, cats are still regarded as unusual Leishmania hosts. A cat found chronically infected with Leishmania was submitted to xenodiagnosis. After being sedated, the animal was exposed to the bite of 100 laboratory-reared Phlebotomus...
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Published in | Veterinary parasitology Vol. 145; no. 3; pp. 357 - 360 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Netherlands
Elsevier B.V
30.04.2007
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Despite the recent reports of feline leishmaniosis from Southern Europe, cats are still regarded as unusual
Leishmania hosts. A cat found chronically infected with
Leishmania was submitted to xenodiagnosis. After being sedated, the animal was exposed to the bite of 100 laboratory-reared
Phlebotomus perniciosus in a fine net cage for 90
min. Four out of 19 blood-fed sandflies (21%) showed motile promastigotes at the dissection. Parasites cultured from cat's lymph node and an infected fly were identical at PCR-RFLP genotyping and identified as
Leishmania infantum MON-1, the main zymodeme responsible for human and canine leishmaniosis in Southern Europe. This is the first evidence of transmissibility of feline parasites to a proven vector, suggesting that cats may represent an additional domestic reservoir for
L. infantum. |
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Bibliography: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2006.11.009 |
ISSN: | 0304-4017 1873-2550 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.vetpar.2006.11.009 |