First survey on canine leishmaniasis in a non classical area of the disease in Spain (Lleida, Catalonia) based on a veterinary questionnaire and a cross-sectional study

Importance of individual analysis of environmental and climatic factors affecting the density of Leishmania vectors living in the same geographical area: the example of Phlebotomus ariasi and P. perniciosus in northeast Spain

“…The increased presence of vectors between villages could be favoured by the higher availability of oviposition and resting sites as well as the presence of a greater variety of animals constituting potential blood meals, considering the opportunistic feeding behaviour of both species (Guy et al, 1984;de Colmenares et al, 1995;Rossi et al, 2008). In fact, in the Lleida Pyrenees area, we have found a high percentage of Leishmania seropositive dogs among the canine population living in conditions favourable for transmission (rural dogs, living in kennels and sleeping outdoors) (Ballart et al, 2013).…”

“…While P. perniciosus is considered the principal potential vector of leishmaniasis in the southern area of Lleida, P. ariasi could play this role in the northern, Pyrenean region. In fact, we have previously found L. infantum DNA in P. ariasi specimens (Alcover et al, 2012) and demonstrated the existence of an autochthonous focus of canine leishmaniasis in this area (Ballart et al, 2012a(Ballart et al, , 2013.…”

“…Variables resulting in p-values of <0.2 in the bivariate analysis were selected to fit a multivariate model for each vector (Gálvez et al, 2010a;Ballart et al, 2013). In the case of closely correlated variables (temperature and precipitation) that could potentially create interaction or confusion in the multivariate analysis, we retained those from the sampling period (mean daily temperature and daily precipitation of Sampling Day 1 (traps set) to Day 4 (traps recovered)).…”

“…In recent years, an increase in canine leishmaniasis has been observed in central and southern Spain (Martin-Sánchez et al, 2009;Gálvez et al, 2010b) as well as the presence of the disease also in the north (Amusategui et al, 2004;Miró et al, 2012), including the Pyrenean region of Lleida province (Ballart et al, 2013). However, only one partial entomological survey has been carried out in the latter area (Gállego et al, 1990) and no data on the factors influencing the distribution of leishmaniasis vectors in this region are available.…”

Spread of Leishmania infantum in Europe with dog travelling

“…There are some other examples in Europe that suggest an expansion of L. infantum transmission towards northern latitudes, including the cases of the French Pyrenees, in southern France (Dereure et al, 2009), of Catalonia, in northeastern Spain (Ballart et al, 2013), and of Galicia, in northern Spain (Miró et al, 2012). The Pyrenees were usually considered to be outside of the endemic range of Mediterranean leishmaniosis in France.…”