Leishmania infection in rodents in Greece

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of Leishmania infection in rodents from various areas of northern Greece.

Methods: Ninety-seven rodents (66 Mus musculus, 19 Rattus norvegicus and 12 R. rattus) were collected during pest control programmes and examined by cytology (spleen and liver smears), serology (ELISA) and PCR (real-time and gel-based) for Leishmania. Date, environment, sex, existence of dogs in the close environment were recorded for each rodent.

Results: All cytological preparations were negative, whereas specific IgG was detected in 54.5% in total; 70% of R. norvegicus; 50% of R. rattus; and 50% of M. musculus. In at least one molecular method, 19.6% of the samples in total were positive: 25% of R. rattus, 24% of M. musculus, but no R. norvegicus was found positive. Environment (semi-urban areas, P = 0.037) and species (M. musculus, P = 0.032) were associated with positive PCR. All infected animals showed evidence of low parasite burden, demonstrated by the negative cytological examinations and the high Ct values observed in real-time PCR.

Conclusion: Due to the proximity of rodents to humans and dogs, these animals may be important in the epidemiology of leishmaniosis, especially if proven that they can infect sand flies.

Keywords: Leishmania; Mus musculus; Rattus norvegicus; Rattus rattus; Greece; Grèce; rodents; rongeurs.