Potential animal reservoirs (dogs and bats) of human visceral leishmaniasis due to Leishmania infantum in French Guiana

Abstract

In French Guiana, cutaneous leishmaniasis is highly endemic, whereas no autochthonous case of visceral leishmaniasis have been reported so far. However, due to its proximity to Brazil which is highly endemic for visceral leishmaniasis, and the high transboundary population flow, an epidemiological challenge could arise at any time. As an overseas department and region and the largest outermost region of the European Union, epidemiological surveillance of visceral leishmaniasis is of great importance. Our study aimed to investigate the presence of Leishmania spp. in domestic (dogs) and sylvatic (bats) animals from French Guiana. Over the 2008–2018 period, samples from 349 animals were collected. They included blood from 179 autochthonous dogs and 59 bats, spleen samples from 33 bats and, blood from 78 military working dogs (MWD) collected before their departure from continental France and at the end of their four-month stay in French Guiana. Samples were screened using real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assays targeting Leishmania DNA followed by sequencing of 18S rRNA, kDNA and ITS2 genes. L . infantum was detected in 2.3% (8/349) of animals with 1.7% (3/179) of autochthonous dogs, 5.1% (4/78) of MWD returning from French Guiana, whereas they were negative before their departure. One of them dates back to 2012. All these dogs were positive for serological tests. In addition, L . infantum DNA was detectable in one bat spleen sample, belonging to Carollia perspicillata species. We report here for the first time an infection with L . infantum in dogs and bat from French Guiana. Our results suggest the existence of potential reservoir and transmission cycle for visceral leishmaniasis, at least since 2012, which was unknown in this territory until now. Further studies are needed to determine how these animals were infected and which vectors are involved in the transmission in this area.

Detection of Canine Vector-Borne Filariasis and Their Wolbachia Endosymbionts in French Guiana

“…These diseases constitute an important public health concern in tropical and subtropical regions from the Old and New World, where they are endemic [2]. In French Guiana, dogs seem to be affected by several major CVBDs, such as leishmaniasis [3], anaplasmosis [4], trypanosomiasis [5], ehrlichiosis [6] and arbovirosis [7].…”

Potential of Artesunate in the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis in dogs naturally infected by Leishmania infantum: Efficacy evidence from a randomized field trial

“…DNA was eluted in 200 μL of distilled water and stored at -20°C until analysis. The qPCR was prepared and performed as described in [ 6 ]. Briefly, 20 μL final volume containing 10 μL of Eurogentec Master Mix Roche (Eurogentec, Liège, Belgium), 0.5 mM of each primer and the probe, 0.5 μL UDG, 3 μL of distilled DNAse- and RNAse-free water, and 5 μL of the DNA sample was amplified in a CFX96 Real-Time system (BioRad Laboratories, Foster City, CA, USA) using the following thermal profile: one incubation step at 50°C for two minutes and an initial denaturation step at 95°C for three minutes, followed by 40 cycles of denaturation at 95°C for 15 seconds and annealing and extension at 60°C for 30 seconds.…”

“…L. chagasi) is the causative agent of both human VL and canine leishmaniasis (CanL) [1]. In the last few decades, epidemiological changes in VL, including increases in incidence and mortality rate and its spread to new and even urban areas, have been observed [2][3][4][5][6][7]. As the dog is the main reservoir for human infection, there is a significant overlap between areas of high prevalence of CanL and human mortality attributed to this parasitosis [8,9].…”

Detection of zoonotic pathogens in animals performed at the University Hospital Institute Méditerranée Infection (Marseille – France)

“…Blood samples and swabs were taken from 283 individuals from 21 species. Coxiella burnetii was not detected, but it was possible to culture two new species of Bartonella from the blood, to detect Leishmania infantum by PCR and to identify rickettsia in the soft ticks parasiting these bats [ [25] , [26] , [27] ]. Recently, in cooperation with the veterinary services of New Caledonia, the bacterial “Candidatus Mycoplasma haemohominis” species was recently detected in fruit bats of the Pteropus genus.…”