title: A survey on canine leishmaniasis and phlebotomine sand flies in central Italy.
abstract: Zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (ZVL) is a vector-transmitted zoonosis caused by the parasitic protozoan Leishmania infantum. Bloodsucking sand flies of the subfamily Phlebotominae are the obligatory insect hosts, and the dog is the only domestic reservoir. This study reports data from a survey of canine infection and sand fly phlebotomine monitoring in the province of Perugia in central Italy. The overall seroprevalence in a total of 100 dogs tested was 8% (95% confidence interval: 3.8-15.6%). Data analysis revealed that serological positivity was statistically associated with age (p-value=0.03) and the area where dogs lived. Standard blacklight traps employed for sampling Culicoides midges in bluetongue disease surveillance were used in phlebotomine monitoring. A total of 5698 sand flies were collected and the two species, Leishmania competent vectors, were identified, Phlebotomus perfiliewi (50%) and Phlebotomus perniciosus (30%).
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Umbria e delle Marche, 06126 Perugia, Italy. c.maresca@izsum.it
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maresca
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Scoccia
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Barizzone
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Catalano
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mancini
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pagliacci
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Porrini
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Principato
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Venditti
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Grelloni
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003710:Demography; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004285:Dogs; D007303:Insect Vectors; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D007896:Leishmaniasis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D011576:Psychodidae / Q000502:physiology*; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies