TY - JOUR
T1 - First report of Leishmania tropica in domestic and wild animal hosts in hyperendemic areas of human cutaneous leishmaniasis in western Yemen
T2 - a neglected tropical disease needing One Health approach
AU - Al-Ashwal, Manal Ali
AU - Al-Adhroey, Abdulelah H.
AU - Atroosh, Wahib M.
AU - Al-Subbary, Assia Abdullah
AU - Albhri, Adel Ahmed
AU - Azlan, Ummi Wahidah
AU - Tan, Jia Hui
AU - Alkhali, Arwa Ahmed
AU - Alshoteri, Sheikh Abdulhafed
AU - Sady, Hany
AU - Alharazi, Talal H.
AU - Lau, Yee Ling
AU - Al-Mekhlafi, Hesham M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2024/6/27
Y1 - 2024/6/27
N2 - Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), a neglected tropical disease, is a major public health concern in Yemen, with Leishmania tropica identified as the main causative agent. This study aims to investigate the occurrence and distribution of Leishmania parasites in domestic and wild animals in CL endemic areas in the western highlands of Yemen. A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Utmah District of western Yemen. Blood and skin scraping specimens were collected from 122 domestic and wild animals and tested for the Leishmania DNA using internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) nested polymerase chain reaction. Phylogenetic analyses were performed on 20 L. tropica sequences obtained from animals in this study and 34 sequences from human isolates (collected concurrently from the same study area) retrieved from the GenBank. Overall, L. tropica was detected in 16.4% (20/122) of the examined animals, including 11 goats, two dogs, two bulls, one cow, one donkey, one rabbit, one rat and one bat. None of the examined cats and sheep was positive. The animal sequences were segregated into four different L. tropica haplotypes, with the majority of the animal (15/20) and human (32/34) sequences composed of one dominant haplotype/genotype. These findings represent the first confirmed evidence of natural L. tropica infections in different kinds of domestic and wild animals in western Yemen, suggesting these animals potentially have a role in the transmission of CL in Yemen. Therefore, a One Health approach is required for the effective prevention and control of this devastating disease among endemic populations.
AB - Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), a neglected tropical disease, is a major public health concern in Yemen, with Leishmania tropica identified as the main causative agent. This study aims to investigate the occurrence and distribution of Leishmania parasites in domestic and wild animals in CL endemic areas in the western highlands of Yemen. A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Utmah District of western Yemen. Blood and skin scraping specimens were collected from 122 domestic and wild animals and tested for the Leishmania DNA using internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) nested polymerase chain reaction. Phylogenetic analyses were performed on 20 L. tropica sequences obtained from animals in this study and 34 sequences from human isolates (collected concurrently from the same study area) retrieved from the GenBank. Overall, L. tropica was detected in 16.4% (20/122) of the examined animals, including 11 goats, two dogs, two bulls, one cow, one donkey, one rabbit, one rat and one bat. None of the examined cats and sheep was positive. The animal sequences were segregated into four different L. tropica haplotypes, with the majority of the animal (15/20) and human (32/34) sequences composed of one dominant haplotype/genotype. These findings represent the first confirmed evidence of natural L. tropica infections in different kinds of domestic and wild animals in western Yemen, suggesting these animals potentially have a role in the transmission of CL in Yemen. Therefore, a One Health approach is required for the effective prevention and control of this devastating disease among endemic populations.
KW - Leishmania tropica
KW - Cutaneous leishmaniasis
KW - Domestic animal
KW - Infectious diseases
KW - Reservoir hosts
KW - Wild animal
KW - Yemen
U2 - 10.1007/s00436-024-08273-3
DO - 10.1007/s00436-024-08273-3
M3 - Article
C2 - 38935203
AN - SCOPUS:85197150545
SN - 0932-0113
VL - 123
JO - PARASITOLOGY RESEARCH
JF - PARASITOLOGY RESEARCH
IS - 6
M1 - 256
ER -
