Feline Leishmania spp. Infection in a Non-Endemic Area of Northern Italy
Spada, Eva | Perego, Roberta | Vitale, Fabrizio | Bruno, Federica | Castelli, Germano | Tarantola, Gaia | Baggiani, Luciana | Magistrelli, Sonia | Proverbio, Daniela
Feline leishmaniosis (FeL) is an emerging vector-borne feline disease, with increasing numbers of cases reported and studies performed internationally. This study aimed to update the epidemiological status for FeLin stray cats in Milan, northern Italy; compare these results with previous studies in Northern Italy; and report clinicopathologic findings and coinfections in cats infected with Leishmaniaspp. A total of 117 cats were tested for L. infantumand retrovirusinfection, hematological, and biochemical parameters. Demographic and clinical data were collected and FeL affected cats screened for selected coinfections. Overall, 10/117 (8.6%) cats tested positive for L. infantum: in five cats L. infantum DNA was found in popliteal lymph nodes and five were IFAT seropositive at titers from 1:80 to 1:160. Infected cats were concentrated in a specific area of Milan (p= 0.0154). No specific clinicopathologic abnormalities or retroviral infections were significantly linked to the infection, other than hypergammaglobulinemia (p= 0.0127). Seroreactivity to Anaplasmaphagocytophilum, Chlamydophila felis, and Toxoplasma gondii was found in some infected cats. A high prevalence of FeL was found in a non-endemic area of northern Italy and future studies should continually monitor this data to understand whether these cases are imported or if Leishmania vectors are present in this area.
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