The occurrence of the filarial nematodeDirofilaria repensin canine hosts from Maio Island, Cape Verde

Abstract

The prevalence of canine Dirofilaria infection in Maio Island (Cape Verde) was analysed by serology, morphological and molecular identification of the parasite species. Blood and sera were collected from 150 dogs and 80 cats aged over 6 months from various localities of the island. DNA was extracted from blood and samples were screened by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using microfilaria-specific primers. No Dirofilaria immitis was found in dogs while D. repens microfilariae were found in 5.3% of dogs and 6% were positive by PCR. The species identity was confirmed by sequencing of PCR products, which showed almost 100% homology with D. repens European sequences published in GenBank. No difference in Dirofilaria infection was observed between males and females or in dogs with different weights. However, older dogs and those from the western part of Maio Island were more frequently infected. No Dirofilaria was found in cats. This study represents the first evidence of D. repens in Cape Verde (West Africa) and highlights the need for implementing control measures and for a better surveillance of dirofilariosis in Africa.

Molecular detection of Hepatozoon felis in cats from Maio Island, Republic of Cape Verde and global distribution of feline hepatozoonosis

“…Although cats in the Cape Verde archipelago may be at risk of VBPs, and because vector control measures are not routinely applied to cats, studies on feline VBPs are lacking in this archipelago. To the best of our knowledge, the only study on feline VBPs in the Cape Verde archipelago was limited to an investigation of the presence of Dirofilaria , but this pathogen was not identified in cats [17].…”

Case Report: Molecular Detection of Dirofilaria repens in an Italian Patient after a Stay in Tanzania

“…Unfortunately, to date, no sequences of D. repens collected from Central and Southern Africa are available for comparison, despite it being isolated or detected from dogs in Tanzania 26 and Cape Verde. 27 Despite the scarce clonality of D. repens population, they could offer very useful information about the worldwide circulation of the parasite, and a potential starting point to assess the international transmission routes, which could be directed to, or even originating from, Europe.…”

First Molecular Detection of Dirofilaria immitis and D. repens in Dogs from Kyrgyzstan

“…Third one is mosquito vectors are not common in the sampling region due to the climatic conditions. Prevalence of D. immitis was determined as 21.3% in France [38], 14.5% in Tunisia [29], 13.7% in Portugal [10], 8.0% in Mexico [40], 2.3-4.02% in Iran [4,24], 1.5-3.7% in Turkey [3,13,37] and 0.0% in Cape Verde [20] with PCR. Environmental factors particularly climate and ecologic features influence mosquito population and this can be related to prevalence of dirofilariosis.…”

“…From all reasons above, it is thought that D. repens spreading is faster than D. immitis [6,24]. D. repens prevalence in asymptomatic dogs with PCR was 26.0% in Iran [24], 6.0% in Cape Verde [20], 3.0% in Tunisia [29], 2.7% in Lithuania [31], 1.12% in Mexico [26], 0.0-1.8% in Turkey [13,37], 0.0% in Portugal [10], 0.0% in France [38], 0.0% in Algeria [39]. With this study, D. repens was first detected in dogs in Kyrgyzstan and the parasite prevalence was low when compared to some studies.…”