Prevalencia de la leishmaniosis canina en la provincia de Zamoraimplicaciones sobre la población de lobos ibéricos ("Canis lupus signatus")

Abstract

Canine leishmaniasis (LCan) is a parasitic zoonosis caused by Leishmania infantum in Mediterranean countries and transmitted vectorially by the bite of flies of the Phlebotominae family. LCan is a very serious disease that can cause the death of dogs when untreated and is also a focus of transmission to other dogs or humans. In the Iberian Peninsula, LCan is caused by the MON-1 zymodeme of L. infantum and is endemic especially in the Mediterranean coast (Levante, Andalusia and Balearic Islands), where the population of domestic dogs is very high. However, cases of LCan have been diagnosed in other latitudes at the northwest of the peninsula, including rural and sparsely populated areas. This fact has favored the emergence of leishmaniasis in wildlife, especially in carnivores, but also in rodents, bats, lagomorphs, etc., which can act as reservoirs of the pathogen with the consequent risk to public health. In this PhD dissertation, after the optimization of a qPCR diagnostic method from buccal, nasal and otic samples, an epidemiological survey was carried out among veterinary clinics in the province of Zamora (Spain) in order to know the incidence of LCan in dogs during the period 2021-2023. In addition, we describe for the first time the presence of L. infantum in wolves in the vicinity of the Sierra de la Culebra (Zamora province), a protected environmental sanctuary of this species. Finally, we found a female Iberian wolf (Canis lupus signatus) housed in semi-captivity conditions at the Centro del Lobo Ibérico "Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente", in Robledo de Sanabria, Zamora (Spain) with an interdigital ulcerative wound on the right forepaw, compatible with LCan. After appropriate pharmacological treatment, the lesion healed and there was a progressive reduction in the levels of serum antibodies against L. infantum and in the blood parameters altered by the pathogen.