Diagnosis and epidemiology of Leishmania infantum in domestic cats in an endemic area of the Amazon region, Brazil

Publication date: Available online 15 August 2019Source: Veterinary ParasitologyAuthor(s): Ana Vitória Verde Oliveira Rocha, Brenda Fernanda Sodré Moreno, Aline Diniz Cabral, Nayara Mendes Louzeiro, Leandro Macedo Miranda, Vivian Magalhães Brandão dos Santos, Francisco Borges Costa, Rita de Maria Seabra Nogueira, Arlei Marcili, Márcia Aparecida Sperança, Andréa Pereira da CostaAbstractVisceral leishmaniasis is a zoonotic disease caused by Leishmania infantum for which dogs are the main reservoir. In South America, presence of this disease is expanding along with increasing dispersion of its principal vector, the sand-fly Lutzomyia longipalpis. Feline leishmaniasis is an emerging disease in domestic cats, but epidemiological studies in endemic areas of the Amazon region of Brazil are scarce and the role of cats as reservoirs of L. infantum has been debated. The aim of this study was to investigate L. infantum infection in cats living in the Amazon biome region, using serological and molecular methods. A total of 105 cats were subjected to clinical examination and blood samples were taken for immunofluorescent-antibody (IFAT) serological evaluation, to determine anti-Leishmania antibody titers. Conventional PCR and Sanger’s sequencing targeting L. infantum chitinase and Leishmania species ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS-1) encoding genes were performed on conjunctival swabs from these cats. Seropositivity was detected in 32 animals (30.48%), thus confirming ...
Source: Veterinary Parasitology - Category: Veterinary Research Source Type: research