Dirofilaria immitis infection in carnivores from Bulgaria: 2012–2013 update

Panayotova-Pencheva, Mariana; Mirchev, R.; Trifonova, A.

doi:10.15547/bjvm.918

Cited by 18 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…These areas were often situated near wet or marshy grounds, enlarged by the restoration of landscapes for rice cultivation over the last decade in the southern parts of the country, and provided excellent conditions for the reproduction and proliferation of the mosquito vectors. Further, climate changes and the enhanced movement of dogs and people across Europe may also have contributed to the increased geographical dispersal of dirofilariosis in Bulgaria according to Panayotova-Pencheva et al (2016) . Review on the recorded prevalences of D. immitis in domestic and wild-living carnivores in the country is presented in Table 1 and its spatial distribution in Figure 3 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The wild animals were hunted during the season 2014. Morphometric data and morphological characterization of adult helminths recovered from three hosts were provided in a previous study of Panayotova-Pencheva et al (2016) , and resulted in D. immitis taxonomic classification.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Bulgaria, there is a clear trend of raising D. immitis prevalences in dogs and wild carnivores over the last decade (e.g., Panayotova-Pencheva et al, 2016 ; Iliev et al, 2017 ; Stoyanova et al, 2019 ). Nonetheless, no data are available so far about the genetic structure and polymorphism of Dirofilaria heartworms circulating in the country.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dirofilaria immitis in Bulgaria: the first genetic baseline data and an overview of the current status

et al. 2020

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SummaryDirofilaria immitis, the agent of canine dirofilariosis, is a common parasite of domestic and wild carnivores with zoonotic potential and worldwide distribution, being endemic in many countries. Bulgaria is among European countries recognized as endemic for this heartworm parasite. In the present study, D. immitis adults recovered from pulmonary arteries of domestic dog and golden jackal originating from the Pazardzhik region in southern Bulgaria, and from red fox originating from the Plovdiv region in central-southern Bulgaria, were genetically analyzed in nuclear targets. The first PCR amplification of the internal transcribed region 2 (ITS2) of the ribosomal DNA with previously published D. immitis-specific primers yielded single fragments in size of 302 bp that is characteristic for these heartworms. PCR products of three isolates, resulted from the second amplification of the 5.8S-ITS2 region (235 bp) with pan-filarioid primers, were subjected to direct DNA sequencing. Identical nucleotide composition was detected across the screened target region for these Bulgarian isolates. When the 5.8S-ITS2 sequences were phylogenetically compared to the GenBank-retrieved D. immitis sequences in a worldwide context, the neighbor-joining analysis has shown three discrete clades. The first clade was composed of D. immitis isolates from Europe (including the studied Bulgarian samples), Asia and South America, in the second clade samples from Asia and South America were placed, whereas the third clade was formed by two Brazilian dog isolates originated from the north and southeast part of the country. The purpose of the present study was to verify the taxonomic characterization of D. immitis nematodes from Bulgaria based on morphology and compare their genetic structure with filariae obtained from the different world regions using molecular assays. It also summarizes previous epidemiological and ecological studies on the parasite distribution and prevalences in different hosts and regions undertaken so far in Bulgaria.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dirofilaria immitis in Bulgaria: the first genetic baseline data and an overview of the current status

et al. 2020

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“…In 2015, a canine prevalence of 16.2 % in the Stara Zagora region was described by Pantchev et al (Pantchev et al, 2015). The disease has also been observed and studied in wild carnivores, being described high prevalences in foxes and jackals (Kirkova et al, 2007; Mirchev et al, 2013; Panayotova-Pencheva et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stray dogs of Sofia (Bulgaria) could be an important reservoir of heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis)

Stoyanova¹,

Carretón

Montoya-Alonso

2019

Helminthologia

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SummaryDirofilaria immitis (heartworm) is a zoonotic and an emerging disease, expanding in Europe. In Bulgaria, the presence of the parasite has been described in many regions. However, canine heartworm has hardly been evaluated in the capital of the country and, therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and distribution of canine heartworm in Sofia. Eighty stray dogs from the city of Sofia and the metropolitan area were analysed for circulating D. immitis antigens. The prevalence was 31.25 %, being 34.7 % in the metropolitan area and 25.8 % in the city of Sofia. The current results are among the highest reported in the country. This could be due to the lack of prophylactic measures against infection in these dogs, but also to the spread of D. immitis into non-endemic countries. Stray dogs may act as an important reservoir of heartworm being a risk for client-owned animals and for the development of pulmonary dirofilariosis in inhabitants. The results show the need to establish further epidemiological studies and prophylactic campaigns for stray and client-owned animals, as well as to create awareness campaigns about the severity and importance of this disease for both animals and humans.

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“…In Bulgaria, prevalence of both parasites has been confirmed in dogs and wild predators – D. immitis was found in 5 dogs of 40 tested and in 4 foxes of 78 tested. 8.6 % of the dogs tested and almost 9 % of the jackals tested were microfilaraemic (Panayotova-Pencheva et al, 2016). In another study in Sofia, 240 dogs were tested, 15 of which were infected with D. immitis , 12 with D. repens and 6 with both parasites (Konstantinov, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human dirofilariasis in Bulgaria between 2009 and 2018

et al. 2019

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SummaryAutochthonous Dirofilaria repens infections have been found in dogs and other carnivores in most European countries. In the same countries, reports of human dirofilariasis are becoming increasingly prevalent. We present 18 cases of people infected with D. repens for a 10-year period traced in our hospital. The data was collected from the observations and tests of all 18 patients from the whole country treated at the Specialized Hospital for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases in Sofia in the period 2009 – 2018. We used a morphological method, serology test and Knott’s method for microfilariae. The patients were 11 to 74 years of age, 12 female and 6 male. In most cases, patients have subcutaneous nodules or face, eyelid and eyes localization. The trend of increasing incidence in Bulgaria continues, with age and sex distribution and localization of the larva being similar to those in other European countries.

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Dirofilaria immitis infection in carnivores from Bulgaria: 2012–2013 update

Cited by 18 publications

References 17 publications

Dirofilaria immitis in Bulgaria: the first genetic baseline data and an overview of the current status

Dirofilaria immitis in Bulgaria: the first genetic baseline data and an overview of the current status

Stray dogs of Sofia (Bulgaria) could be an important reservoir of heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis)

Human dirofilariasis in Bulgaria between 2009 and 2018

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