Exposure of humans to the zoonotic nematode Dirofilaria immitis in Northern Portugal

Abstract

Dirofilariosis caused by Dirofilaria immitis (heartworm) is a zoonosis, considered an endemic disease of dogs and cats in several countries of Western Europe, including Portugal. This study assesses the levels of D. immitis exposure in humans from Northern Portugal, to which end, 668 inhabitants of several districts belonging to two different climate areas (Csa: Bragança, Vila Real and Csb: Aveiro, Braga, Porto, Viseu) were tested for anti-D. immitis and anti-Wolbachia surface proteins (WSP) antibodies. The overall prevalence of seropositivity to both anti-D. immitis and WSP antibodies was 6.1%, which demonstrated the risk of infection with D. immitis in humans living in Northern Portugal. This study, carried out in a Western European country, contributes to the characterisation of the risk of infection with D. immitis among human population in this region of the continent. From a One Health point of view, the results of the current work also support the close relationship between dogs and people as a risk factor for human infection

Current situation of the presence of Dirofilaria immitis in dogs and humans in Bucaramanga, Colombia

“…In our study, the population with the highest seropositivity was that from the age group of 51-65 years. This result is similar to other studies that report that the risk of infection increases with age [4,7,8,26,27,28].…”

“…agricultural practices and irrigation areas; deficiency and economic instability; and adverse meteorological events such as hurricanes or tropical rains in the area, affect the development of the disease. [1,4,29]. Further, it is important to note that although it is a vector-borne disease, not all L3 that come into contact with the host develop into adults, neither in dogs nor in wild hosts [9].…”

“…Seroprevalence studies have been conducted in regions where infected dogs have been found, which indicated previous contact with the parasite and cases with pulmonary nodules. For this reason, dirofilariasis is considered an emerging public health problem because of its zoonotic potential [3,4].…”

“…D. immitis and anti-Wolbachia IgG antibodies with some modifications[4,7,21,22]. D. immitis adult worm extract (DiSA) and 1:100 serum dilutions were used to detect the presence of anti-D. immitisIgG antibodies.…”

Current situation of the presence of the zoonotic nematode Dirofilaria immitis in dogs and humans in Bucaramanga, Colombia

“…In these cases, there is only data from the affected population that showed some type of clinical manifestation, excluding the infected population that does not have symptoms related to the disease or any clinical manifestation, making its study even more difficult. Seroepidemiological studies show the complementary part of the problem because they detect contact with the parasite by analyzing the anti-Dirofilaria and anti-Wolbachia immune response and are excellent tools to analyze the risk of infection among the human population residing in an endemic area (1,4,7,22,26,27,28].…”