Role of golden jackals (Canis aureus) as natural reservoirs of Dirofilaria spp. in Romania.
BACKGROUND
Dirofilaria immitis and Dirofilaria repens are mosquito-transmitted zoonotic nematodes, causing heartworm disease and skin lesions, respectively, in carnivores. In Europe, the domestic dog is apparently the main definitive host, but patent infections occur also in other species of carnivores. The rapid spread of the golden jackals (Canis aureus) throughout Europe opens a question of involvement of this species in the sylvatic cycle of pathogens in the colonised territories, including Dirofilaria spp.


METHODS
Between January 2014 and May 2015, 54 golden jackals from 18 localities in Romania were examined by full necropsy for the presence of adult filarioid nematodes and blood samples from all animals were screened for the presence of microfilariae of D. immitis, D. repens and Acanthocheilonema reconditum by multiplex PCR DNA amplification.


RESULTS
Nematodes morphologically identified as D. immitis were found in 18.52% of the animals, originating from the southern part of Romania. No D. repens or A. reconditum were found at necropsy. The molecular prevalence in blood samples from the same animals was 9.26% for D. immitis and 1.85% for D. repens. All samples were negative by PCR for A. reconditum.


CONCLUSIONS
The relatively high prevalence of Dirofilaria spp. infections in golden jackals from Romania together with the increasing density of the jackal populations highlight their potential role in the transmission of these zoonotic parasites and in the maintenance of natural disease foci.
Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Calea Mănăştur 3-5, 400372, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Angela Monica
AM
Ionică
Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Calea Mănăştur 3-5, 400372, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. matei.ioana@usamvcluj.ro.
Ioana Adriana
IA
Matei
Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Calea Mănăştur 3-5, 400372, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Gianluca
G
D'Amico
Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Calea Mănăştur 3-5, 400372, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Aikaterini Alexandra
AA
Daskalaki
Department of Pathology and Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Palackého tř. 1/3, 612 42, Brno, Czech Republic.
Jana
J
Juránková
Department of Game and Wildlife, Faculty of Silviculture and Forestry Engineering, Transilvania University, Şirul Beethoven 1, 500123, Braşov, Romania.
Dan Traian
DT
Ionescu
Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Calea Mănăştur 3-5, 400372, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Andrei Daniel
AD
Mihalca
Department of Pathology and Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Palackého tř. 1/3, 612 42, Brno, Czech Republic.|CEITEC -VFU, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Palackého tř. 1/3, 612 42, Brno, Czech Republic.|Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i., České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
David
D
Modrý
Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Calea Mănăştur 3-5, 400372, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Călin Mircea
CM
Gherman
D000818:Animals; D004182:Dirofilaria; D004184:Dirofilariasis; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000662:veterinary*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D046030:Jackals; D008297:Male; D012383:Romania / Q000453:epidemiology
Dirofilariases; Dissemination; Heartworm; Reservoir; Romania; Wild carnivores