Serological survey of Neospora caninum and Leishmania infantum co-infection in dogs
Introduction
Neospora caninum is a recently recognized protozoan of dogs, cattle and other mammals (Dubey and Lindsay, 1996, Dubey, 1999). The dog has been identified as a definitive host, releasing oocysts in faeces following experimental oral infection with tissue cysts (McAllister et al., 1998, Lindsay et al., 1999). Under natural conditions, a dog has also been reported to shed oocysts in La Plata, Argentina (Basso et al., 2001).
In Italy, this protozoan was first isolated in dogs in 1998 (Pasquali et al., 1998, Poli et al., 1998), however, serological evidence of its presence had been observed earlier both in cattle (Ferrari et al., 1995) and in dogs (Cringoli et al., 1996a).
Leishmania infantum is the agent of canine leishmaniosis throughout the entire Mediterranean basin. It has been continuously reported in Italy since the beginning of the 1900s, and is widespread in many central and southern Italian regions (Pozio et al., 1985, Zaffaroni et al., 1999).
N. caninum and L. infantum skin co-infection has recently been reported in a young dog in Italy (Tarantino et al., 2001). A previous sero-epidemiological survey of N. caninum in a small number of dogs from the Campania region of southern Italy, also observed high levels of N. caninum and L. infantum co-infection (Cringoli et al., 1996b).
The present serological survey investigates a large sample of clinically asymptomatic dogs living in an area of southern Italy endemic for canine leishmaniosis, in order to further study N. caninum and L. infantum co-infection and risk factors.
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Study area
The study was conducted in the Campania region of southern Italy within an 2446 km2 area (40°45′–41°03′N and 14°15′–14°45′E), that includes 60 non-contiguous municipalities of four different provinces (Avellino, Napoli, Caserta, and Salerno).
Animals and blood samples
The sample size was calculated using the formula proposed by Thrusfield (1995) for a large (theoretically “infinite”) population using the following values: expected prevalence 29% (based on our previous studies on N. caninum, Cringoli et al., 1996a);
Seroprevalence and antibody titres
The epidemiological data and the seroprevalence results of tested dogs are shown in Table 1.
Out of the 1058 dog sera samples, 68 (6.4%) were found to have antibodies to N. caninum, and 222 (21.0%) were found to have antibodies to L. infantum. The co-presence of antibodies to N. caninum and L. infantum was found in 46 (4.3%) dogs. Thus, 67.6% of the dogs positive for N. caninum also had antibodies to L. infantum, and 20.7% of the dogs positive for L. infantum also had antibodies to N. caninum.
Discussion
In the Campania region of southern Italy, the occurrence of antibodies to N. caninum has been reported in dogs (Cringoli et al., 1996a, Cringoli et al., 1996b), cattle (Guarino et al., 1998) and water buffaloes (Guarino et al., 2000).
The seroprevalence of N. caninum reported for dogs in the present survey (6.4%) confirms the wide diffusion of this protozoan in this region.
The seroprevalence of L. infantum reported in the present survey (21.0%) is higher than that reported in previous studies
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