Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Jun;25(6):1222-1224.
doi: 10.3201/eid2506.181027.

Leishmaniasis in Norway Rats in Sewers, Barcelona, Spain

Maria Teresa Galán-Puchades, Mercedes Gómez-Samblás, Jose M Suárez-Morán, Antonio Osuna, Joan Sanxis-Furió, Jordi Pascual, Rubén Bueno-Marí, Sandra Franco, Víctor Peracho, Tomás Montalvo, Màrius V Fuentes

Leishmaniasis in Norway Rats in Sewers, Barcelona, Spain

Maria Teresa Galán-Puchades et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2019 Jun.

Abstract

We detected Leishmania infantum in 98 Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) trapped in parks and sewers of Barcelona, Spain. The 84 rats from the sewers showed a prevalence of 33.3% and up to 2,272 estimated parasites. These results, in the most abundant potential reservoir in cities, is of public health concern.

Keywords: Barcelona; Leishmania infantum; Rattus norvegicus; Spain; leishmaniasis; parasites; reservoir; sewage system.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Miró G, López-Vélez R. Clinical management of canine leishmaniosis versus human leishmaniasis due to Leishmania infantum: Putting “One Health” principles into practice. Vet Parasitol. 2018;254:151–9. 10.1016/j.vetpar.2018.03.002 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Millán J, Ferroglio E, Solano-Gallego L. Role of wildlife in the epidemiology of Leishmania infantum infection in Europe. Parasitol Res. 2014;113:2005–14. 10.1007/s00436-014-3929-2 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Riera C, Napp S, Manzanares S. Epidemiology of human leishmaniasis in the city of Barcelona (1997–2014) [in Spanish]. Rev Enf Emerg. 2016;15:68–76.
    1. Francino O, Altet L, Sánchez-Robert E, Rodriguez A, Solano-Gallego L, Alberola J, et al. Advantages of real-time PCR assay for diagnosis and monitoring of canine leishmaniosis. Vet Parasitol. 2006;137:214–21. 10.1016/j.vetpar.2006.01.011 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Tafuri WL, Santos RL, Arantes RM, Gonçalves R, de Melo MN, Michalick MS, et al. An alternative immunohistochemical method for detecting Leishmania amastigotes in paraffin-embedded canine tissues. J Immunol Methods. 2004;292:17–23. 10.1016/j.jim.2004.05.009 - DOI - PubMed