First report of natural infection in hedgehogs with Leishmania major, a possible reservoir of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in Algeria.
We report here the first known cases of natural infection of hedgehogs with Leishmania major. Cutaneous leishmaniasis is an important public health problem in the area of M'sila, a semi-arid province in Algeria's northern Sahara, where two species of hedgehog live, Atelerix algirus and Paraechinus aethiopicus. The aim of this research was to survey Leishmania infection in these hedgehogs and evaluate whether they were reservoir hosts of Leishmania in an endemic zoonotic focus of leishmaniasis. Serological and molecular methods were used to determine the presence of Leishmania in 24 hedgehogs caught directly by hand and identified at species level as 19 A. algirus and 5 P. aethiopicus. Specific anti-Leishmania antibodies were detected in 29.2% of individuals by Western blot and in 26.3% by ELISA. The real-time PCR performed in spleen, ear and blood samples detected Leishmania spp. DNA in 12.5% of the individuals, one A. algirus and two P. aethiopicus. Three skin and two spleen samples of these animals were found to be parasitized and were identified by molecular test as L. major. Considering our results, it is suggested that hedgehogs have a potential epidemiological role as reservoir hosts of L. major.
Laboratori de Parasitologia, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona, Avda. Joan XXIII s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
Míriam
M
Tomás-Pérez
Laboratoire d'Écologie, Département des Sciences de la Nature et de la Vie, Faculté des Sciences, Pôle Universitaire de M'sila, 28000, Algeria; Département de Zoologie Agricole et Forestière, Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique, El-Harrach, Algeria.
Mourad
M
Khaldi
Laboratori de Parasitologia, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona, Avda. Joan XXIII s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
Cristina
C
Riera
Laboratori de Parasitologia, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona, Avda. Joan XXIII s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
Denis
D
Mozo-León
Laboratori de Parasitologia, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona, Avda. Joan XXIII s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain; Biodiversity Research Group, Faculty of Science, Udon Thani Rajabhat University, Udon Thani 41000 Thailand.
Alexis
A
Ribas
Laboratoire MIVEGEC (UMR IRD 224-CNRS 5290-Université Montpellier 1), Montpellier, F-34394, France.
Mallorie
M
Hide
Laboratoire d'Écologie, Département des Sciences de la Nature et de la Vie, Faculté des Sciences, Pôle Universitaire de M'sila, 28000, Algeria; Département de Zoologie Agricole et Forestière, Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique, El-Harrach, Algeria.
Ghania
G
Barech
Laboratoire d'Écologie, Département des Sciences de la Nature et de la Vie, Faculté des Sciences, Pôle Universitaire de M'sila, 28000, Algeria.
Meryam
M
Benyettou
Laboratoire d'Écologie, Département des Sciences de la Nature et de la Vie, Faculté des Sciences, Pôle Universitaire de M'sila, 28000, Algeria.
Kamel
K
Seghiri
Laboratoire d'Écologie, Département des Sciences de la Nature et de la Vie, Faculté des Sciences, Pôle Universitaire de M'sila, 28000, Algeria.
Souad
S
Doudou
Laboratori de Parasitologia, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona, Avda. Joan XXIII s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: rfisa@ub.edu.
Roser
R
Fisa
D000462:Algeria; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D003955:Diagnostic Tests, Routine; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D005260:Female; D006364:Hedgehogs / Q000469:parasitology*; D018320:Leishmania major / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016773:Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques; D012698:Serologic Tests; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission
D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan
Algeria; Hedgehogs; Leishmania major; Molecular analysis; Reservoir host; Serology; qPCR