Leishmaniasis in Tunisia: History and New Insights into the Epidemiology of a Neglected Disease

Haouas, Najoua; Babba, Hamouda

doi:10.5772/65000

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…The medical community should suggest a vernacular name for the disease and promote its use through media. Another explanation for this bad knowledge could be due to the rural distribution of CVL that is mainly prevalent in Centre and South of Tunisia ( Haouas and Babba, 2017 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge and attitudes of Tunisian dog owners regarding leishmaniasis

Khbou¹,

Najahi²,

Zribi

et al. 2019

Parasite Epidemiology and Control

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BackgroundVisceral leishmaniasis is a zoonotic disease of major public health concern in several countries in the world. The local population awareness would improve prevention, early detection and treatment of both human and animal leishmaniasis.MethodsThe aim of this survey was to assess the knowledge about visceral leishmaniasis in a sample of dog owners visiting the National School of Veterinary Medicine of Sidi Thabet, Tunisia, through a structured questionnaire.FindingsTwo hundred dog owners were interviewed, 87% were men and 47% had higher education level. Ninety four per cent were from neighbouring districts to Ariana, where the National School of Sidi Thabet is located. Out of 200 respondents, 79 confirmed knowing leishmaniasis. The correct answers concerning canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) (77%) were significantly higher than those concerning human visceral leishmaniasis (HVL) (23%). Correct answers concerning CVL were given in part by previously diseased dogs' owners. The respondent could not explain what is exactly leishmaniasis, but the majority of questioned persons know that human and dogs are the most important hosts. Forty-four out 79 (56%) of the persons think that mosquitoes or insects are the vectors of leishmaniasis and 63% (53/79) knows that it is a zoonotic disease but 72% (38/53) were not able to define how.ConclusionDespite the frequent visits to veterinarians for vaccination or other medical issues and their long experience in dog breeding, the sample of dog owners had not enough knowledge and several misconceptions regarding leishmaniasis. Large education programmes should be implemented in Tunisia to improve the knowledge of the Tunisian population, especially dog owners, concerning leishmaniasis.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge and attitudes of Tunisian dog owners regarding leishmaniasis

Khbou¹,

Najahi²,

Zribi

et al. 2019

Parasite Epidemiology and Control

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“…perniciosus could be potential vectors of L. major. To the best of our knowledge, only rodents have been described as reservoirs of L. major in Tunisia [14]. Hence, the hypothesis that cow and goat could be a reservoir of L. major should be discarded.…”

Section: Plos Neglected Tropical Diseasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…perniciosus has been reported to be the vector and the domestic dog has been described as reservoir [12,13]. Nevertheless, the vector and the reservoir hosts of the other SCL and VL causative zymodemes are still unidentified [14]. Previous studies have described L. infantum zymodeme MON-24 and MON-80 isolated in some dogs (in Algeria and Tunisia).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular detection and identification of Leishmania DNA and blood meal analysis in Phlebotomus (Larroussius) species

et al. 2020

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Background Phlebotomus (Larroussius) perniciosus and Canis familiaris are respectively the only confirmed vector and reservoir for the transmission of Leishmania (L.) infantum MON-1 in Tunisia. However, the vector and reservoir hosts of the two other zymodemes, MON-24 and MON-80, are still unknown. The aim of this study was to analyze the L. infantum life cycle in a Tunisian leishmaniasis focus. For this purpose, we have focused on: i) the detection, quantification and identification of Leishmania among this sand fly population, and ii) the analysis of the blood meal preferences of Larroussius (Lar.) subgenus sand flies to identify the potential reservoirs.

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“…O agente etiológico, entretanto, só foi formalmente descrito, classificado e nomeado em 1903 por Ronald Ross, com auxílio dos dados publicados por Charles Donovan (ROSS, 1903;STEVERDING, 2017). Curiosamente, em 1908 Charles Nicolle identificou e descreveu Leishmania infantum em uma criança tunisiana, mesmo ano em que Charles Comte encontrou o parasito em cães procedentes da mesma região (NICOLLE;COMTE, 1908;HAOUAS;BABBA, 2017). Desde então, o cão (Canis familiaris) têm sido considerado um dos principais reservatórios do parasito em áreas urbanas (HARHAY et al, 2011).…”

Section: O Agente Etiológico Das Leishmaniosesunclassified

Caracterização molecular e avaliação da infectividade in vitro e in vivo de duas cepas de Leishmania spp. isoladas de cães naturalmente infectados

Oliveira¹

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Leishmaniasis can take on two main clinical forms: visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and cutaneous leishmaniasis (LC). In urban areas, the dog participates as a reservoir of Leishmania infantum (causing LV) and, because of this, is the target of the disease control strategies. These animals can also be found naturally infected by the species that lead to the development of LC. Although these infections are rare, some findings in the literature have opened the question about the role of these animals in the biological cycle of these species and their infective potential. Thus, it becomes important the molecular characterization and evaluation of the infective behavior of these parasites. The present study aimed to identify the species of two wild strains isolated from dogs from the city of Uberlândia (MG), as well as the evaluation of their in vitro behavior and infectivity to canine macrophages of commercial lineage and BALB / c mice. To this end, the amplification products of the ITS1 and hsp70 targets of Leishmania spp. were subjected to enzyme restriction (PCR-RFLP). The in vitro proliferation profile was established by the growth curve, with UDI-1 and UDI-2 being compared to two reference strains, Ba199 (MHOM/BR/1989/Ba199-L. amazonensis) and BH401 (MCAN/BR/2002/BH401-L. infantum). In vitro infectivity experiments were performed using macrophages (DH82), as well as promastigotes of stationary phase and axenic amastigotes of wild and reference strains. In vivo evaluation of the infection was verified by analyzing the parasite load in the liver, spleen and lesions of mice infected with the four parasite strains (UDI-1, UDI-2, Ba199, BH401). In addition, the infection kinetics were verified by weight monitoring, lesion size and behavior. The results of PCR-RFLP showed that UDI-1 presented a profile of pairs of bands similar to L. amazonensis and UDI-2 to L. infantum. The in vitro behavior differed between UDI-2 and BH401, being similar between UDI-1 and Ba199. Stationary phase promastigotes of UDI-1 showed the highest infectivity capacity compared to the other strains, and when using axenic amastigote forms, BH401 was the strain with the highest infectivity index. In both cases, UDI-2 showed the lowest infectivity in vitro. In vivo, UDI-1 induced lesions more rapidly (three weeks) and had a higher mean parasitic load on lesion and liver compared to Ba199. The metastatic phenotype was verified, with consequent visceralization of UDI-1. In contrast, the mean values of the parasitic load of UDI-2 were lower than those of BH401 in the evaluated tissues (liver and spleen). No behavioral changes and no natural gain were observed. Together, these data show that among the wild strains, UDI-1 shows the best infectivity capacity in vitro and in vivo, and UDI-2 exhibited the least infective phenotype. In addition, this is the first report on the natural infection of a dog with L. amazonensis in the Triângulo Mineiro (MG) region.

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Leishmaniasis in Tunisia: History and New Insights into the Epidemiology of a Neglected Disease

Cited by 5 publications

References 39 publications

Knowledge and attitudes of Tunisian dog owners regarding leishmaniasis

Knowledge and attitudes of Tunisian dog owners regarding leishmaniasis

Molecular detection and identification of Leishmania DNA and blood meal analysis in Phlebotomus (Larroussius) species

Caracterização molecular e avaliação da infectividade in vitro e in vivo de duas cepas de Leishmania spp. isoladas de cães naturalmente infectados

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