Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cats exposed to sand fly bites are more likely to have Leishmania
By Pereira, André et al.·Published in Parasites & vectors·2019·Global Health and Tropical Medicine (GHMT)·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Antibody response to Phlebotomus perniciosus saliva in cats naturally exposed to phlebotomine sand flies is positively associated with Leishmania infection.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A study found that nearly half of the cats tested had antibodies against the saliva of phlebotomine sand flies, which are known to spread Leishmania infection. This was especially true for cats aged 1 to 8 years during the sand fly season. While only a small number of cats had the actual Leishmania infection, those with higher antibody levels were more likely to test positive for the disease. The findings suggest that monitoring these antibodies could help in understanding and preventing Leishmania infections in cats, and further research is needed to see if certain collars can reduce sand fly bites.
People also search for: cat Leishmania infection symptoms · cat sand fly prevention · cat antibody test for Leishmania
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Zoonotic leishmaniosis, caused by the protozoan Leishmania infantum, is a public and animal health problem in Asia, Central and South America, the Middle East and the Mediterranean Basin. Several phlebotomine sand fly species from the subgenus Larroussius are vectors of L. infantum. Data from dogs living in endemic areas of leishmaniosis advocate the use of antibody response to phlebotomine sand fly saliva as an epidemiological biomarker for monitoring vector exposure. The aim of this study was to analyse the exposure of cats to phlebotomine sand flies using detection of IgG antibodies to Phlebotomus perniciosus saliva. The association between phlebotomine sand fly exposure and the presence of Leishmania infection was also investigated. RESULTS: IgG antibodies to P. perniciosus saliva were detected in 167 (47.7%) out of 350 cats; higher antibody levels were present in sera collected during the period of phlebotomine sand fly seasonal activity (OR = 19.44, 95% CI: 9.84-38.41). Cats of 12-35 months had higher antibody levels than younger ones (OR = 3.56, 95% CI: 1.39-9.16); this difference was also significant with older cats (for 36-95 months-old, OR = 9.43, 95% CI: 3.62-24.48; for older than 95 months, OR = 9.68, 95% CI: 3.92-23.91). Leishmania spp. DNA was detected in the blood of 24 (6.9%) cats, while antibodies to L. infantum were detected in three (0.9%). Only one cat was positive to Leishmania by both techniques. Cats presenting IgG antibodies to P. perniciosus had a significantly higher risk of being positive for Leishmania infection. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating anti-sand fly saliva antibodies in cats. The evaluation of the contact of this animal species with the vector is important to the development of prophylactic measures directed to cats, with the aim of reducing the prevalence of infection in an endemic area. Therefore, studies evaluating whether the use of imidacloprid/flumethrin collars reduces the frequency of P. perniciosus bites in cats are needed. It is also important to evaluate if there is a correlation between the number of phlebotomine sand fly bites and IgG antibody levels.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30909940/