{"title":"Molecular Detection of <i>Leishmania major</i> in <i>Hemiechinus auritus</i>: A Potential Reservoir of Zoonotic Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Damghan, Iran.","authors":"Behrad Pourmohammadi, Sadegh Mohammadi-Azni","doi":"","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by <i>Leishmania major</i> is endemic in 17 of 31 Iranian provinces. Various species of rodents have been introduced as the main reservoirs of the disease. This study was conducted to determine the natural infection of hedgehogs with <i>Leishmania</i> spp. in an endemic area of the disease, northern Iran.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Fifteen long-eared hedgehogs were captured alive during 18 months study period, from Apr 2015 to Sep 2016, in Damghan City, Semnan Province, Iran. The animals were identified using apparent characteristics and to determine the <i>Leishmania</i> infection, impression smears were prepared from their ear lobes, hind feet, livers, and spleens. Microscopic examination and semi-nested PCR were applied to determine the infection and to identify the parasites species respectively.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>All examined animals were identified as <i>Hemiechinus auritus</i> (Family: Erinaceidae). In microscopic examination, 8 (53.3%) samples were shown to be infected with <i>Leishmania</i> parasites. The higher and lower rate of the infection was observed in the ears as well as the feet and in the liver specimens, 53.3%, and 33.3% respectively. Forty percent (6/ 15) of the samples were molecularly positive and all were identified as <i>L. major</i> parasites. All the examined animals in autumn and 50% of them in summer were shown to be infected with <i>Leishmania</i> parasites.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study demonstrated the natural infection of <i>H. auritus</i> with <i>L. major</i> for the first time in Damghan City and introduced these mammals as new potential reservoirs of ZCL in the study area.</p>","PeriodicalId":15095,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Arthropod-Borne Diseases","volume":"13 3","pages":"334-343"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6000,"publicationDate":"2019-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6928384/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Arthropod-Borne Diseases","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2019/9/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"PARASITOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania major is endemic in 17 of 31 Iranian provinces. Various species of rodents have been introduced as the main reservoirs of the disease. This study was conducted to determine the natural infection of hedgehogs with Leishmania spp. in an endemic area of the disease, northern Iran.
Methods: Fifteen long-eared hedgehogs were captured alive during 18 months study period, from Apr 2015 to Sep 2016, in Damghan City, Semnan Province, Iran. The animals were identified using apparent characteristics and to determine the Leishmania infection, impression smears were prepared from their ear lobes, hind feet, livers, and spleens. Microscopic examination and semi-nested PCR were applied to determine the infection and to identify the parasites species respectively.
Results: All examined animals were identified as Hemiechinus auritus (Family: Erinaceidae). In microscopic examination, 8 (53.3%) samples were shown to be infected with Leishmania parasites. The higher and lower rate of the infection was observed in the ears as well as the feet and in the liver specimens, 53.3%, and 33.3% respectively. Forty percent (6/ 15) of the samples were molecularly positive and all were identified as L. major parasites. All the examined animals in autumn and 50% of them in summer were shown to be infected with Leishmania parasites.
Conclusion: This study demonstrated the natural infection of H. auritus with L. major for the first time in Damghan City and introduced these mammals as new potential reservoirs of ZCL in the study area.
期刊介绍:
The journal publishes original research paper, short communication, scientific note, case report, letter to the editor, and review article in English. The scope of papers comprises all aspects of arthropod borne diseases including:
● Systematics
● Vector ecology
● Epidemiology
● Immunology
● Parasitology
● Molecular biology
● Genetics
● Population dynamics
● Toxicology
● Vector control
● Diagnosis and treatment and other related subjects.