CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 101Parasitic Diseases Research and TreatmentMosquito-borne diseases and controlVector-borne infectious diseases

Development of Dirofilaria immitis within the mosquito Aedes (Finlaya) koreicus, a new invasive species for Europe

Open access
Montarsi, Fabrizio, Ciocchetta, Silvia, Devine, Gregor, Ravagnan, Silvia, Mutinelli, Franco, Frangipane di Regalbono, Antonio, Otranto, Domenico, Capelli, Gioia·2015·Parasites & Vectors
DOI 10.1186/s13071-015-0800-yPMC PMC4382832
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Over the recent decades, container-breeding mosquito species belonging to the genus Aedes have frequently been recorded far from their place of origin. Aedes koreicus was first reported in north-eastern Italy in 2011, in a region endemic for Dirofilaria immitis, the agent of canine heartworm disease. The vector competence of Ae. koreicus for D. immitis was here tested under laboratory conditions, by infecting mosquitoes with a local strain of D. immitis. METHODS: Blood containing 3000 microfilariae/ml was offered to 54 mosquitoes (T group) while 29 were left as a control (C group). Mosquitoes killed at scheduled days post infection (dpi) and naturally dead were divided in head, thorax and abdomen and examined for D. immitis larval stages by dissection under a microscope and molecularly. RESULTS: Of the 45 engorged mosquitoes in T, 32 (71.1%) scored positive for D. immitis larval stages. L3 were found as early as 8 dpi in the Malpighian tubules and then in the thorax, salivary glands, palp and proboscis. At the end of the study a total of 18 mosquitoes developed L3 giving an estimated infection rate at 12 dpi of 68.2% and a vector efficiency index of 25.2%. The rate of mortality in T group within the first 9 days post infection was significantly higher in T group (47.6%) than in C group (8.3%) (p < 0.01). The concordance between microscopy and PCR was high (0.8-0.9), however, a positivity for D. immitis in the head was found molecularly at 13 dpi, three days before microscopy. CONCLUSIONS: Aedes koreicus, a new invasive species for Europe, is most likely a competent vector of D. immitis being of potential relevance in the natural cycle of the parasite. This poses a new threat for animal and human health in endemic areas for dirofilariosis and enhances the risk of spreading the infection in previously non-endemic areas. These results stress the importance of active surveillance and control strategies to minimize the risk of introduction of invasive alien species.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1186/s13071-015-0800-y

Cites

53 of 53 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

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?

  • A new vector, Ae. koreicus, has been detected in Europe, in the Province of Belluno, north-eastern Italy, and in Chiasso, Swiss-Italian border region.

    “Moreover, a new vector was detected in Europe, Ae. koreicus, which was identified in the Province of Belluno, north-eastern Italy, and in Chiasso, in the Swiss–Italian border region [152,153].”

    From What has happened to heartworm disease in Europe in the last 10 years? (2022) · cites this paper as [152]

  • Dirofilaria immitis has spread in recent years in Europe due to climate change, the spreading of Aedes albopictus, and the introduction of the new vector Aedes koreicus.

    “D. immitis has spread in the last years in Europe due to climate change, the spreading of mosquito Aedes albopictus and the introduction of new vector Aedes koreicus [29].”

    From Dirofilaria immitis and Angiostrongylus vasorum: the contemporaneous detection in kennels (2015) · cites this paper as [29]

  • Only a few mosquito species have been experimentally confirmed as competent for Dirofilaria spp. (e.g., Cx. pipiens s.l., Ae. albopictus, Aedes aegypti, Aedes japonicus, Aedes geniculatus and Aedes koreicus).

    “Despite the large natural infestation of European mosquitoes from endemic areas [5–22], only a few species have been experimentally confirmed as competent for Dirofilaria spp. (e.g., Cx. pipiens s.l., Ae. albopictus, Aedes aegypti, Aedes japonicus, Aedes geniculatus and Aedes koreicus) [47–50].”

    From Dirofilaria immitis and Dirofilaria repens in mosquitoes from Corsica Island, France (2021) · cites this paper as [48]

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. [35]Gander E ZurHistochemie und Histologie des Mitteldarnies von Aedes aegypti und Anopheles stephensi in Znsammenhang mit der Bintverdannng Acta Trop 1968 25 2 131 75 4176382
  2. [52]Cazzin S, Ciocchetta S, Ravagnan S, Drago A, Carlin S, Capelli G, Montarsi F. Host preference of the invasive mosquito Aedes koreicus [Hulecoeteomyia koreica]. In Proceedings of XXVIII National Congress SOIPA, 2014: 156, available online at: http://www.soipa.it/images/documenti/attisoipa2014.pdf

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Montarsi, F., Ciocchetta, S., Devine, G., Ravagnan, S., Mutinelli, F., Frangipane di Regalbono, A., Otranto, D., & Capelli, G.
Affiliations
  • Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie (IT)
  • Queensland University of Technology (AU)
  • QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute (AU)
  • University of Bari Aldo Moro (IT)
Corresponding author
Capelli, Gioia
ORCID
Venue
Parasites & Vectors
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2015-03-23
Volume
8
Issue
1
Pages
177-177
ISSN
1756-3305 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/s13071-015-0800-y
PMC
PMC4382832
OpenAlex
W2126586237
Cited by
101
References
53
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 4
FWCI
7.80
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Parasites & Vectors (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • QUT ePrints (Queensland University of Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
  • CINECA IRIS Institutional Research Information System (University of Bari Aldo Moro) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Padua Research Archive (University of Padova) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Bayer HealthCare
  • Ministero della Salute
  • Regione del Veneto
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Parasitic Diseases Research and Treatment
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Mosquito-borne diseases and control
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Parasitology › Vector-borne infectious diseases
Keywords
Dirofilaria immitis, Aedes koreicus, vector competence, canine heartworm disease, invasive mosquito species, mosquito mortality, Malpighian tubules, salivary glands, dirofilariasis, invasive species, Europe
MeSH terms
Aedes, Animals, Dirofilaria immitis, Dirofilariasis, Dog Diseases, Dogs, Europe, Humans, Insect Vectors, Italy, Larva, Introduced Species

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