Changing climate and changing vector-borne disease distribution: The example of Dirofilaria in Europe

In the citing paper

“For example, urban heat islands may provide the thermal conditions required for D. immitis to complete larval development to the infective L3 stage, even in regions where the general climate would otherwise be less favorable, provided that suitable small-scale mosquito breeding sites are also present (6).”

In the citing paper

“Despite the substantial body of knowledge on the epidemiology of D. immitis in Spain and Portugal, few studies have jointly examined additional host and environmental variables—such as age, sex, breed, or habitat—in relation to realized transmission risk (6, 7).”

In the citing paper

“This has led to the creation of more optimal conditions that allow the spread of mosquitoes to other areas where previously the climatic conditions prevented their presence [1,55,78,166,167].”

In the citing paper

“Moreover, considering that larval development does not occur below the threshold temperature of around 14 °C, the number of heartworm generations was determined and a high risk of infection was estimated in southern Spain and Portugal, some areas of southern France, Corsica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Cyprus, the coast of Albania, several regions of northern and southern Italy, Naples, Sard”

In the citing paper

“Furthermore, studies based on GIS carried out in the whole continent [167] showed that when climate data collected at several weather stations in a given area were favourable for the development of mosquitoes, a presence of positive dogs was found in those same locations.”

In the citing paper

“Continuous globalisation and climate warming will probably lead to a further spread and increased circulation in the future.”

In the citing paper

“Additionally, D. repens infections are often asymptomatic in dogs which might lead to a longer time period where a dog is infective, and a mosquito can ingest and transmit the parasite to further hosts [6, 73].”

In the citing paper

“Global warming is regarded as a key factor involved in the spreading of Dirofilaria spp., as it enhances the development of these filarioids inside mosquitoes [9,28].”

In the citing paper

“Specifically, Sardinia has the environmental, climatic and human activities (e.g. tourism with animal transportation) that could allow these nematodes to spread [5, 30].”

In the citing paper

“Conversely, a major hindrance of this study could be that the anamnesis of animals was not available (e.g. their travelling history from/to historically endemic areas for both diseases) [5, 22].”

In the citing paper

“Vectors (e.g. Aedes albopictus) and pathogens (e.g. Leishmania infantum, D. immitis) could expand or (re-)emerge due to climate change [12–15].”

In the citing paper

“Thus, the recorded distribution of Dirofilaria prevalence in northern and southern areas of Greece is contradictory to what is expected based on the models mentioned above, and requires further attempts to explain.”

In the citing paper

“The parasite can be introduced to non-endemic countries by dogs with a travel history to endemic regions, as well as dogs imported from endemic countries [2,3].”

In the citing paper

“Dogs with a travel history to endemic regions, as well as dogs imported from endemic countries, can introduce the parasite to non-endemic countries.”

In the citing paper

“Therefore, these dogs are of particular epidemiological interest [2,3].”

In the citing paper

“Both the heartworm predictive model (based on growing degree days) and the Dirofilaria development units show parts of Central Europe suitable for the establishment of these parasites [28].”