Occurrence of Leishmania infantum in Wild Mammals Admitted to Recovery Centers in Spain.

ABSTRACT: Zoonotic leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania infantum is distributed worldwide and affects humans and domestic and wild mammals. In Europe, specifically in the Mediterranean basin, leishmaniasis is endemic due to the concurrence of the phlebotomine vectors and reservoir mammals, including carnivorous wildlife species and other less studied wild species. In this article, spleen, skin, and eye or oral swabs taken from 134 wild mammals admitted to five wildlife recovery centers in Spain were used. PCR employing fragments of the Repeat region, ITS1, and SSUrRNA were used for detection, and positive samples were processed for sequencing. L. infantum was detected in three out of the nine species analyzed, including European hedgehog, European badger, and red squirrel, with percentag

SUBMITTER: Azami-Conesa I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10458632 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature