The Role of the Leishmania infantum Infected Dogs as a Potential Reservoir Host for Toscana Virus in a Zoonotic Visceral Leishmaniasis Focus of Northern Tunisia

Khalil Dachraoui; Ifhem Chelbi; Imen Labidi; Raja Ben Osman; Aida Sayadi; Mourad Ben Said; Saifedine Cherni; Mohammed Abdo Saghir Abbas; Rémi Charrel; Elyes Zhioua

doi:10.3390/v15041012

The Role of the Leishmania infantum Infected Dogs as a Potential Reservoir Host for Toscana Virus in a Zoonotic Visceral Leishmaniasis Focus of Northern Tunisia

Viruses. 2023 Apr 20;15(4):1012. doi: 10.3390/v15041012.

Authors

Khalil Dachraoui^{1

2}, Ifhem Chelbi^{1

2}, Imen Labidi¹, Raja Ben Osman³, Aida Sayadi³, Mourad Ben Said^{4

5}, Saifedine Cherni¹, Mohammed Abdo Saghir Abbas¹, Rémi Charrel^{6

7}, Elyes Zhioua^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Unit of Vector Ecology, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Tunis 1002, Tunisia.
² Laboratory of Transmission, Control and Immuno-Biology of Infections, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Tunis 1002, Tunisia.
³ Vaccine Control Unit, National Drug Control Laboratory, Tunis 1002, Tunisia.
⁴ Department of Basic Sciences, Higher Institute of Biotechnology of Sidi Thabet, University of Manouba, Manouba 2010, Tunisia.
⁵ Laboratory of Microbiology, National School of Veterinary Medicine of Sidi Thabet, University of Manouba, Manouba 2010, Tunisia.
⁶ Unité des Virus Emergents, Aix-Marseille University, IRD 190, INSERM U1207, 13005 Marseille, France.
⁷ Laboratoire des Infections Virales Aigues et Tropicales, Pole des Maladies Infectieuses, AP-HM Hôpitaux Universitaires de Marseille, 13005 Marseille, France.

Abstract

The role of dogs as reservoir hosts for Toscana virus (TOSV) remains undetermined. This study investigated TOSV and Leishmania infantum infections in one healthy and three infected dogs with Leishmania (A, B, C) following natural exposition to sandfly bites in a focus of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (ZVL) located in Northern Tunisia from June to October 2020. At the end of the exposition period, infected and healthy dogs were examined for TOSV and L. infantum infections by xenodiagnosis using a colony of Phlebotomus perniciosus. Pools of freshly engorged P. perniciosus at days 0 and those at days 7 post-feeding were screened for TOSV and L. infantum by nested PCR in the polymerase gene and kinetoplast minicircle DNA, respectively. In the exposure site, P. pernicious is the most abundant sandfly species. The infection rates of sandflies with TOSV and L. infantum were 0.10 and 0.05%, respectively. Leishmania infantum DNA and TOSV RNA were detected in P. perniciosus females fed on dog B and C, respectively. The isolation of TOSV in Vero cells was achieved from two pools containing P. perniciosus fed on dog C. No pathogens were detected in P. perniciosus females fed on dog A and on control dog. We report for the first time the reservoir competence of dog with ZVL in the transmission of TOSV to sandfly vectors in natural settings, in addition to its role as a main reservoir host of L. infantum.

Keywords: Leishmania infantum; Phlebotomus perniciosus; Toscana virus; dogs; reservoir; transmission dynamics; xenodiagnosis; zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Chlorocebus aethiops
DNA
Dog Diseases* / epidemiology
Dogs
Female
Leishmania infantum* / genetics
Leishmaniasis*
Leishmaniasis, Visceral* / epidemiology
Leishmaniasis, Visceral* / veterinary
Phlebotomus* / genetics
Psychodidae*
Sandfly fever Naples virus* / genetics
Tunisia / epidemiology
Vero Cells

Substances

DNA

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Institut Pasteur de Tunis (Grant N°: IPT-2022). The funder had no role in study design, data collection, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.