Examining the Relationship of Clinical and Laboratory Parameters With Infectiousness to Phlebotomus perniciosus and Its Potential Infectivity in Dogs With Overt Clinical Leishmaniasis

Infected dogs are considered the main domestic animal reservoirs for Leishmania infantum parasite. Infectiousness to competent phlebotomine vectors has been associated with many factors, the main being the severity of the disease exhibited by infected dogs. This study examines the relationship between different clinical parameters and the infectiousness to colonized Phlebotomus perniciosus sand flies having a blood meal on dogs. Data obtained in the present study come from an untreated group of Leishmania sick dogs submitted to xenodiagnosis for the evaluation of a spot on insecticide solution. Seventeen dogs were diagnosed as affected by leishmaniasis through clinical examination, immunofluorescence antibody test (IFAT) serology, and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP). The disease severity (clinical score) was staged by using a numeric value derived from eight clinical and parasitological parameters. Xenodiagnosis was performed on caged dogs exposed for 1.5 h to sand-fly bites. The following parameters related to sand flies were examined: blood feeding (% of blood engorged females), promastigote detection (% of promastigote-positive sand flies), promastigote burden, and the promastigote stage maturation (potential transmissibility rate). Statistical relationship between the clinical score and entomological parameters was investigated, as well as the possible correlation between each clinical and laboratory parameters and sand fly infection/infectivity. The severity of clinical score may influence the blood feeding by, and the probability of promastigote detection in, sand flies; skin lesions seem to be the main factor that influences the rate of blood feeding. Promastigote burden is related to IFAT titer, skin lesions, and clinical score. All entomological parameters are strongly related among them. This study confirms that both P. perniciosus infection and infectivity are influenced by a dog’s clinical condition

Canine Leishmaniasis: investigation on the possible role of dogs in the epidemiology of L. major infection

Leishmaniasis is an infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites of over 20 species of Leishmania which occurs in three forms in humans: visceral (the most severe), cutaneous (the most common) and mucocutaneous. Almost all Leishmania species are pathogenic for mammals and many of them are zoonotic and have animal reservoirs, including the three species known to cause the disease in Tunisia: Leishmania infantum, Leishmania major, and Leishmania killicki (syn. tropica). Domestic dogs are the main reservoir of canine leishmaniasis in Italy and in Tunisia, and can also host infections of L. major and L. tropica. Furthermore, CanL co-infection/co-exposure with other vector-borne pathogens plays a major role in clinical manifestations and influences the course of the infection and may consequently display important risk factors for its establishment, progression and further spread to other animals and human

Examining the Veterinary Electronic Antimicrobial Prescriptions for Dogs and Cats in the Campania Region, Italy: Corrective Strategies Are Imperative

Companion animals are increasingly being recognised as important contributors to the spread of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria. The present work aimed to measure the antimicrobial drug prescribing in dogs and cats in the Campania Region, Italy by analysing the Veterinary Electronic Prescriptions (VEPs) between 2019 and 2020. The medical records associated with antimicrobial drug prescriptions were collected according to the drug administration (systemic or topical) and the rationale for the treatment chosen. In the period under investigation, 166,879 drugs were prescribed of which 129,116 (73.4%) were antimicrobial. A total of 83,965 (65%) antibiotics were prescribed to dogs, 40,477 (31.4%) to cats, and 4674 (3.6%) to other companion animals. In dogs, 90.5% of VEPs prescribed for systemic treatment included an antimicrobial Critically Important or Highly Important or Important for human medicine (WHO, 2018). The most widely prescribed class was fluoroquinolones. The antimicrobials prescribed were mainly metronidazole–spiramycin (29.7%), amoxicillin–clavulanic (19.6%), enrofloxacin and cephalexin in dogs (16.5%) and enrofloxacin (22.6%) and amoxicillin–clavulanic acid (21.4%) in cats. Based on the results, the widespread use of broad-spectrum antimicrobials and the use of molecules for which limitations should be observed according to the EMA guidelines has emerged