Circulation of Dirofilaria immitis and Dirofilaria repens in the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, Romania
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Dirofilariosis is an emerging vector-borne parasitic disease in Europe. Monitoring of wild and domestic carnivores demonstrated circulation of Dirofilaria spp. in Romania in the past. For the implementation of control measures, knowledge on the native mosquito community responsible for Dirofilaria spp. transmission is required. METHODS: Mosquito samples originated from a longitudinal study previously performed in the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve. Mosquito pools were screened for Dirofilaria immitis and Dirofilaria repens. The samples comprised 240,572 female mosquito specimens collected every ten days between April and September in 2014 at four different trapping sites. In addition, blood samples of 36 randomly selected dogs were collected in 2016 in each of the four mosquito sampling sites. A duplex real-time assay was used to detect the presence of one or both Dirofilaria species for each sample. This assay targets the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 and the 16S rRNA gene fragments to differentiate both parasites. RESULTS: Dirofilaria immitis and D. repens were detected in mosquito pools at all four trapping sites. In the 2118 mosquito pools tested, D. immitis was identified for eight and D. repens for six of the 14 screened mosquito taxa, with a higher prevalence of D. immitis (4.53% of analysed pools) compared to D. repens (1.09%). Dirofilaria spp. were also identified in dogs from the same sampling sites with a prevalence of 30.56%. For both Dirofilaria species, the highest estimated infection rates (EIRs) were found in Anopheles maculipennis (s.l.) (D. immitis: EIR = 0.206 per 100 specimens, D. repens: EIR = 0.066 per 100 specimens). In contrast, Coquillettidia richiardii and Anopheles hyrcanus as the most frequent taxa had infection rates which were significantly lower: Cq. richiardii (D. immitis: EIR = 0.021; D. repens: EIR = 0.004); An. hyrcanus (D. immitis: EIR = 0.028; D. repens: EIR = 0.006). The number of positive pools per calendar week was positively correlated with the number of screened pools per calendar week, suggesting constant Dirofilaria spp. transmission during the observation period. CONCLUSIONS: This study further confirms significant circulation of Dirofilaria spp. in eastern Europe, with high parasite prevalence in domestic canids and mosquitoes. Therefore, systematic monitoring studies are required to better understand the environmental risk factors for Dirofilaria transmission, allowing the implementation of effective surveillance and control measures.
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In the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, Romania, the prevalence of D. immitis infection in three species of mosquitoes was 4.53%, with the highest prevalence in An. maculipennis, followed by Cq. richiardii and An. hyrcanus.
“In Romania, in the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, Tomazatos et al. [158] reported a prevalence of 4.53% of infection by D. immitis in three species of mosquitoes; the highest prevalence was detected in An. maculipennis, followed by Cq. richiardii and An. hyrcanus.”
From What has happened to heartworm disease in Europe in the last 10 years? (2022) · cites this paper as [158]
The present data show for the first time the presence of Dirofilaria spp. DNA in Oc. caspius and Cx. pipiens s.l. in France.
“the present data show for the first time the presence of Dirofilaria spp. DNA in Oc. caspius and Cx. pipiens s.l. in France, as reported in previous European studies [5–22].”
From Dirofilaria immitis and Dirofilaria repens in mosquitoes from Corsica Island, France (2021) · cites this paper as [14]
Previous molecular xenomonitoring studies revealed the presence of at least three filarioid nematodes (D. immitis, D. repens and Setaria tundra) in several mosquito species in Europe.
“Previous molecular xenomonitoring studies revealed the presence of at least three filarioid nematodes (i.e., D. immitis, D. repens and Setaria tundra) in several mosquito species in Europe, mostly belonging to the genera Aedes, Anopheles, Coquillettidia, Culex, Culiseta and Ochlerotatus [5–22].”
From Dirofilaria immitis and Dirofilaria repens in mosquitoes from Corsica Island, France (2021) · cites this paper as [14]
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- Authors
- Tomazatos, A., Cadar, D., Török, E., Maranda, I., Horváth, C., Keresztes, L., Spinu, M., Jansen, S., Jöst, H., Schmidt-Chanasit, J., Tannich, E., & Lühken, R.
- Affiliations
- Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (DE)
- Babeș-Bolyai University (RO)
- Corresponding author
- Lühken, Renke
- ORCID
- Venue
- Parasites & Vectors
- Published
- 2018-07-04
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 392-392
- ISSN
- 1756-3305 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6032792
- OpenAlex
- W2810826789
- Cited by
- 33
- References
- 55
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 3.02
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Parasites & Vectors (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Romanian Ministry of National Education (PN-II-ID-2012-4-0595)
- Sectoral Operational Programme Human Resources Development, financed from the European Social Fund and by the Romanian Government (POSDRU/187/1.5/S/156069/)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Parasitic Diseases Research and Treatment
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Research on Leishmaniasis Studies
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Helminth infection and control
- Keywords
- Dirofilaria immitis, Dirofilaria repens, dirofilariasis, mosquito-borne transmission, mosquito pools, Anopheles maculipennis, Coquillettidia richardii, Anopheles hyrcanus, dogs, infection rate, Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, vector competence, parasite prevalence, cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, 16S rRNA gene
- MeSH terms
- Mosquito Vectors, Animals, Dirofilaria immitis, Dirofilariasis, Disease Vectors, Dog Diseases, Dogs, Female, Culicidae, RNA, Ribosomal, 16S, Romania, Prevalence, Dirofilaria repens
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