Molecular survey of Dirofilaria species in stray dogs, red foxes and golden jackals from Vojvodina, Serbia
Abstract
Cardiopulmonary dirofilariosis in dogs and other carnivores is caused by Dirofilaria immitis, while Dirofilaria repens usually causes a subcutaneous infection. The importance of red foxes and golden jackals in the epidemiology of dirofilariosis remains unknown. Thus, the aim of this study was to conduct a cross-sectional molecular survey of Dirofilaria species in stray dogs, red foxes and golden jackals from the endemic region of Vojvodina, Serbia, in order to determine and update data on their prevalence and provide insight into the epidemiological importance of wild canids. A total of 59 blood samples from stray dogs, 94 from red foxes and 32 from golden jackals were collected and screened by real-time PCR targeting a 115-bp fragment of the mitochondrial 12S gene of filarioids and by conventional PCR assay targeting a 484-524-bp fragment of 5.8S-ITS2-28S locus of filarioids. The cross-sectional molecular survey detected the filarioid mitochondrial 12S gene fragment in stray dogs (27.1 %), red foxes (8.5 %) and golden jackals (6.3 %) in the same endemic region of Vojvodina, Serbia. Only D. immitis was detected in stray dogs, while both D. immitis and D. repens were detected in populations of red foxes and golden jackals. These results outline a possible interaction of D. immitis infection between the dog population and the wild canid populations, while D. repens was found to circulate mostly in golden jackals and red foxes populations.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the last ten years, Serbia was the country where most studies on heartworm in wild carnivores have been carried out, reporting naturally occurring patent infection with D. immitis in otters near the Danube River in eastern regions.
“In the last ten years, Serbia was the country where most studies have been carried out, reporting naturally occurring patent infection with D. immitis in otters in areas near the Danube River in eastern regions of the country.”
From What has happened to heartworm disease in Europe in the last 10 years? (2022) · cites this paper as [134]
Penezić et al. and Potkonjac et al. showed presence of heartworm in golden jackals (prevalence 7.32 and 3.1%, respectively) and in red foxes (1.55 and 5.3%, respectively); Penezić et al. also showed prevalence of 1.43% in wolves and 7.69% in wild cats.
“Penezić et al. [137] and Potkonjac et al. [134] showed presence of heartworm in golden jackals (prevalence of 7.32 and 3.1%, respectively), and in red foxes (1.55 and 5.3%, respectively). In addition, Penezić et al. [137] showed prevalence of 1.43% in wolves and 7.69% in wild cats.”
From What has happened to heartworm disease in Europe in the last 10 years? (2022) · cites this paper as [134]
Wild animals in which Dirofilaria infections were identified were predominantly canids like red foxes, golden jackals, and grey wolves.
“Furthermore, there are some wild animals in which Dirofilaria infections were identified, predominantly in canids like red foxes [4, 5, 51–62], golden jackals [52–55, 63, 64], and grey wolves [2, 3, 51, 52, 55, 65, 66].”
From Vectors, host range, and spatial distribution of Dirofilaria immitis and D. repens in Europe: a systematic review (2025) · cites this paper as [54]
D. repens was found to circulate mostly in golden jackal and red fox populations.
“Meanwhile, D. repens was found to circulate mostly in golden jackal and red fox populations (27).”
From Seroepidemiological Study of Canine and Human Dirofilariasis in the Endemic Region of Northern Serbia (2020) · cites this paper as [27]
Cites
MEGA6: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis version 6.0.
Tamura, K., Stecher, G., Peterson, D., Filipski, A., & Kumar, S. (2013) · Molecular biology and evolution · doi:10.1093/molbev/mst197 · Cited by 41,174 · see citing works
Becker, N., Petric, D., Zgomba, M., Boase, C., Madon, M., Dahl, C., & Kaiser, A. (2010) · doi:10.1007/978-3-540-92874-4 · Cited by 1,403 · see citing works
Human and animal dirofilariasis: The emergence of a zoonotic mosaic
Simón, F., Siles-Lucas, M., Morchón, R., González-Miguel, J., Mellado, I., Carretón, E., & Montoya-Alonso, J. A. (2012) · Clinical Microbiology Reviews · doi:10.1128/cmr.00012-12 · Cited by 834 · see citing works
Climate and Dirofilaria infection in Europe
Genchi, C., Rinaldi, L., Mortarino, M., Genchi, M., & Cringoli, G. (2009) · Veterinary parasitology · doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2009.03.026 · Cited by 349 · see citing works
Discrimination between six species of canine microfilariae by a single polymerase chain reaction
Rishniw, M., Barr, S. C., Simpson, K. W., Frongillo, M. F., Franz, M., & Dominguez Alpizar, J. L. (2006) · Veterinary Parasitology · doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2005.10.013 · Cited by 307 · see citing works
Recent advances on Dirofilaria repens in dogs and humans in Europe
Capelli, G., Genchi, C., Baneth, G., Bourdeau, P., Brianti, E., Cardoso, L., Danesi, P., Fuehrer, H.-P., Giannelli, A., Ionică, A. M., et al. (2018) · Parasites & Vectors · doi:10.1186/s13071-018-3205-x · Cited by 298 · see citing works
Self-citationPampiglione, S., & Rivasi, F. (2000) · PubMed · Cited by 264 · see citing works
Heartworm Disease (Dirofilaria immitis) and Their Vectors in Europe – New Distribution Trends
Morchón, R., Carretón, E., González-Miguel, J., & Mellado-Hernández, I. (2012) · Frontiers in Physiology · doi:10.3389/fphys.2012.00196 · Cited by 252 · see citing works
Genchi, C., Mortarino, M., Rinaldi, L., Cringoli, G., Traldi, G., & Genchi, M. (2011) · Veterinary Parasitology · doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2011.01.012 · Cited by 209 · see citing works
Otranto, D., Cantacessi, C., Dantas‐Torres, F., Brianti, E., Pfeffer, M., Genchi, C., Gubertì, V., Capelli, G., & Deplazes, P. (2015) · Veterinary Parasitology · doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2015.04.020 · Cited by 186 · see citing works
Service, M. W. (2010) · Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology · doi:10.1179/136485910x12851868780306 · Cited by 164 · see citing works
Mircean, V., Dumitrache, M. O., Györke, A., Pantchev, N., Jodies, R., Mihalca, A. D., & Cozma, V. (2012) · Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases · doi:10.1089/vbz.2011.0915 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
Dirofilaria immitis: An emerging parasite in dogs, red foxes and golden jackals in Hungary
Tolnai, Z., Széll, Z., Sproch, Á., Szeredi, L., & Sréter, T. (2014) · Veterinary Parasitology · doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2014.04.004 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Penezić, A., Selaković, S., Pavlović, I., & Ćirović, D. (2014) · Parasitology Research · doi:10.1007/s00436-014-3991-9 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
Gioia, G., Lecová, L., Genchi, M., Ferri, E., Genchi, C., & Mortarino, M. (2010) · Veterinary Parasitology · doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2010.04.027 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Extraintestinal nematodes of the red fox Vulpes vulpes in north-west Italy
Magi, M., Guardone, L., Prati, M., Mignone, W., & Macchioni, F. (2014) · Journal of Helminthology · doi:10.1017/s0022149x1400025x · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Karamon, J., Dąbrowska, J., Kochanowski, M., Samorek-Pieróg, M., Sroka, J., Różycki, M., Bilska-Zając, E., Zdybel, J., & Cencek, T. (2018) · Parasites & Vectors · doi:10.1186/s13071-018-3021-3 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
Ionică, A. M., Matei, I. A., Mircean, V., Dumitrache, M. O., D’Amico, G., Győrke, A., Pantchev, N., Annoscia, G., Albrechtová, K., Otranto, D., et al. (2015) · Parasitology Research · doi:10.1007/s00436-014-4263-4 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Survey of canine dirofilariasis in Vojvodina, Serbia
Tasić, A., Rossi, L., Tasić, S., Miladinović-Tasić, N., Ilić, T., & Dimitrijević, S. (2008) · Parasitology Research · doi:10.1007/s00436-008-1132-z · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Rojas, A., Rojas-Araya, D., Montenegro, V. M., & Baneth, G. (2015) · Parasites & Vectors · doi:10.1186/s13071-015-0783-8 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Self-citationFilarioid infections in wild carnivores: a multispecies survey in Romania
Ionică, A. M., Matei, I. A., D’Amico, G., Ababii, J., Daskalaki, A. A., Sándor, A. D., Enache, D. V., Gherman, C. M., & Mihalca, A. D. (2017) · Parasites & Vectors · doi:10.1186/s13071-017-2269-3 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Canine and human Dirofilaria infections in the Balkan Peninsula
Otašević, S., Trenkić-Božinović, M., Gabrielli, S., & Genchi, C. (2015) · Veterinary Parasitology · doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2015.02.016 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Wongkamchai, S., Monkong, N., Mahannol, P., Taweethavonsawat, P., Loymak, S., & Foongladda, S. (2012) · Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases · doi:10.1089/vbz.2012.0971 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Canine heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) detected in red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in urban Melbourne
Marks, C. A., & Bloomfield, T. E. (1998) · Veterinary Parasitology · doi:10.1016/s0304-4017(98)00131-9 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
HumanDirofilaria repensinfection in Serbia
Džamić, A., Čalovski, I. Č., Arsić-Arsenijević, V. S., Stepanović, S., Boričić, I., Dzamic, Z. M., Mitrović, S., Rašić, D., Stefanović, I., Latkovic, Z., et al. (2009) · Journal of Helminthology · doi:10.1017/s0022149x09341346 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
High prevalence of vector-borne pathogens in domestic and wild carnivores in Iraq
Otranto, D., Iatta, R., Baneth, G., Cavalera, M. A., Bianco, A., Parisi, A., Dantas‐Torres, F., Colella, V., McMillan-Cole, A. C., & Chomel, B. B. (2019) · Acta Tropica · doi:10.1016/j.actatropica.2019.105058 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Self-citationRole of golden jackals (Canis aureus) as natural reservoirs of Dirofilaria spp. in Romania
Ionică, A. M., Matei, I. A., D’Amico, G., Daskalaki, A. A., Juránková, J., Ionescu, D. T., Mihalca, A. D., Modrý, D., & Gherman, C. M. (2016) · Parasites & Vectors · doi:10.1186/s13071-016-1524-3 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Golden jackals (Canis aureus) as hosts for ticks and tick-borne pathogens in Serbia
Sukara, R., Chochlakis, D., Ćirović, D., et al. (2018) · Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases · doi:10.1016/j.ttbdis.2018.04.003 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Albonico, F., Loiacono, M., Gioia, G., Genchi, C., Genchi, M., & Mortarino, M. (2013) · Veterinary Parasitology · doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2013.11.027 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
First records of Dirofilaria repens in wild canids from the region of Central Balkan
Ćirović, D., Penezić, A., Pavlović, I., Kulišić, Z., Ćosić, N., Burazerović, J., & Maletić, V. (2014) · Acta Veterinaria Hungarica · doi:10.1556/avet.2014.021 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Tasić, A., Tasić-Otašević, S., Gabrielli, S., Miladinović-Tasić, N., Ignjatović, A., Đorđević, J., Dimitrijević, S., & Cancrini, G. (2012) · Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases · doi:10.1089/vbz.2011.0949 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Marconcini, A., Magi, M., Macchioni, G., & Sassetti, M. (1996) · Veterinary Research Communications · doi:10.1007/bf00366537 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Kia, E., Heidari, Z., Arzamani, K., Sharifdini, M., Mobedi, I., Zarei, Z., & Kamranrashani, B. (2015) · Journal of Vector Borne Diseases · doi:10.4103/0972-9062.172831 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Retrospective study on the distribution of Dirofilaria immitis in dogs in Hungary
Bacsadi, Á., Papp, A., Szeredi, L., Tóth, G., Nemes, C., Imre, V., Tolnai, Z., Széll, Z., & Sréter, T. (2016) · Veterinary Parasitology · doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2016.03.001 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Krstić, M., Gabrielli, S., Ignjatović, M., Savić, S., Cancrini, G., Ranđelović, G., Momčilović, S., Stojnev, S., & Otašević, S. (2017) · Molecular and Cellular Probes · doi:10.1016/j.mcp.2016.08.005 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Self-citationHeartworm on the rise—new insights into Dirofilaria immitis epidemiology
Miterpáková, M., Valentová, D., Čabanová, V., & Berešíková, Ľ. (2018) · Parasitology Research · doi:10.1007/s00436-018-5912-9 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
First molecular identification of Dirofilaria spp. (Onchocercidae) in mosquitoes from Serbia
Kurucz, K., Kepner, A., Krtinic, B., Zana, B., Földes, F., Bányai, K., Oldal, M., Jakab, F., & Kemenesi, G. (2016) · Parasitology Research · doi:10.1007/s00436-016-5126-y · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Seroprevalence of canine heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) infection in Albania
Rapti, D., & Rehbein, S. (2010) · Parasitology Research · doi:10.1007/s00436-010-1914-y · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Dirofilaria immitis and D. repens in sylvatic reservoirs of Krasnodar Krai (Russian Federation)
Kravchenko, V., Итин, Г. С., Kartashev, V. V., Ermakov, A. M., Kartashov, S., Diosdado, A., González‐Miguel, J., & Simón, F. (2016) · Veterinary Parasitology Regional Studies and Reports · doi:10.1016/j.vprsr.2016.08.004 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Occult Dirofilariosis in Dogs of North Eastern Region in India.
Borthakur, S. K., Deka, D. K., Islam, S., & Sarmah, P. C. (2016) · PubMed Central · Cited by 12 · see citing works
EPIDEMIOLOGY OF DIROFILARIOSIS IN DOGS IN GREECE: PREVIOUS AND LATEST INFORMATION
Diakou, A., & Kapantaidakis, E. (2014) · doi:10.13140/2.1.2761.3125 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
What has happened to heartworm disease in Europe in the last 10 years?
Morchón, R., Montoya-Alonso, J. A., Rodríguez-Escolar, I., & Carretón, E. (2022) · Pathogens · doi:10.3390/pathogens11091042 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Hattendorf, C., & Lühken, R. (2025) · Infectious Diseases of Poverty · doi:10.1186/s40249-025-01328-2 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Savić, S., Stosic, M. Z., Marcic, D., Hernández, I., Potkonjak, A., Otasevic, S., Ruzic, M., & Morchón, R. (2020) · Frontiers in Veterinary Science · doi:10.3389/fvets.2020.00571 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Self-citationMolecular Survey of Dirofilaria and Leishmania Species in Dogs from Central Balkan
Tasić-Otašević, S., Savić, S., Jurhar-Pavlova, M., Stefanovska, J., Stalević, M., Ignjatović, A., Ranđelović, M., Gajić, B., Cvetkovikj, A., & Gabrielli, S. (2022) · Animals · doi:10.3390/ani12070911 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Self-citationSzentivanyi, T., V. González, L., Klein, Á., Soltész, Z., & Garamszegi, L. Z. (2025) · Parasites & Vectors · doi:10.1186/s13071-025-06882-0 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
- Authors
- Potkonjak, A., Rojas, A., Gutiérrez, R., Nachum-Biala, Y., Kleinerman, G., Savić, S., Polaček, V., Pušić, I., Harrus, S., & Baneth, G.
- Affiliations
- University of Novi Sad (RS)
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL)
- Scientific Veterinary Institute "Novi Sad" (RS)
- Corresponding author
- Potkonjak, Aleksandar
- ORCID
- Venue
- Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2020-02
- Volume
- 68
- Pages
- 101409
- ISSN
- 0147-9571 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2995049880
- Cited by
- 21
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 4
- FWCI
- 1.72
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Comparative Immunology Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, Hebrew University, Israel
- Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (451-03-1568/2016-14, TR-31084)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Parasitic Diseases Research and Treatment
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Helminth infection and control
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Research on Leishmaniasis Studies
- Keywords
- Dirofilaria immitis, Dirofilaria repens, stray dogs, red fox, golden jackal, wild canids, zoonotic transmission, Vojvodina
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Cross-Sectional Studies, Dirofilaria immitis, Dirofilariasis, Disease Reservoirs, Dog Diseases, Dogs, Foxes, Prevalence, Jackals, Genes, Mitochondrial, Serbia
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
