Wildlife as a sentinel for pathogen introduction in non-endemic areas: IsLeishmania tropicacirculating in wildlife in Spain?

AbstractBackgroundLeishmaniasis is a global arthropod-borne zoonotic disease of chronic course and cutaneous, mucocutaneous, and visceral clinical manifestations. In the Iberian Peninsula, onlyLeishmania infantumhas been reported, although other species ofLeishmania, such asL. tropicaandL. major, are present in surrounding countries.AimThe aim of this work is to analyse the occurrence ofLeishmaniaspp. infection in wildcats as sentinels, including their genotypic characterization.MethodsNecropsies of 18 roadkill wildcats were carried out. Samples from ear skin and spleen were taken, and DNA isolation and PCR analysis of the highly sensitiveSSUrDNAtarget were conducted. Subsequent PCR tests were conducted using more specific targets forLeishmaniaspecies determination:hsp70andITS1Positive samples were sequenced, and phylogenetic trees were constructed.ResultsSeven out of 18 wildcats were found positive toLeishmaniaspp. in ear skin; of them, only two were positive in spleen samples.. Based on thehsp70andITS1sequences, one animal was found to be infected solely withL. tropicain ear skin samples, while two cats were found to be infected withL. infantumin both ear and spleen. Another animal was found to be co-infected withL.infantumandL. tropicain ear skin. TheLeishmaniaspecies could not be determined in three cats as the targetedSSUrDNAis only specific to the genus.ConclusionsThis is the first report of autochthonousL. tropicainfection in the Iberian Peninsula. Health care professionals, including physicians, dermatologist and veterinarians must be aware of this for a correct diagnosis, treatment, and management of possible co-infections.