TY - JOUR
T1 - Sand fly-borne diseases in Europe
T2 - epidemiological overview and potential triggers for their emergence and re-emergence
AU - Maia, Carla
N1 - Funding Information:
The author acknowledges receipt of the 2023 Journal of Comparative Pathology keynote lecturer award at the 2023 European Society of Veterinary Pathology‒European College of Veterinary Pathologists annual congress. A summary of this review was delivered as a plenary lecture at the second joint Congress of Veterinary Pathology and Veterinary Clinical Pathology (ESVP/ECVP/ESVCP/ECVCP), which took place from the 31st August to 2nd September 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal.
Funding Information:
This work was in part supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (GHTM - UID/04413/2020 and LA-REAL – LA/P/0117/2020), the European Commission (grant 101057690) and UK Research and Innovation (grants 10038150 and 10039289), and is catalogued by the CLIMOS Scientific Committee as CLIMOS number 001 ( http://www.climos-project.eu ). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s)
PY - 2024/2
Y1 - 2024/2
N2 - Phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Phlebotominae) are vectors of human and animal pathogens, including Leishmania species protozoan parasites and viruses of the genus Phlebovirus. In Europe, visceral zoonotic leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania infantum, a deadly disease when left untreated, is endemic in southern countries, and dogs are the main reservoir hosts for human infection. Most phleboviruses cause asymptomatic infections or flu-like syndromes in humans, but Toscana phlebovirus can cause meningitis and encephalitis. These diseases are likely to re-emerge, posing a growing threat to public and animal health. Potential triggers include the movement of humans and dogs, increasing numbers of immunosuppressive conditions, climate change and other human-mediated environmental changes. An overview of the main epidemiological characteristics of the pathogens transmitted by sand flies in Europe and the potential triggers involved in their emergence and re-emergence are reviewed here. There is a need to implement mandatory notification of human and canine leishmaniases and human phleboviruses and coordinated epidemiological surveillance programmes at a European level, and to raise awareness among healthcare professionals and citizens about sand fly-borne diseases, following a One Health approach.
AB - Phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Phlebotominae) are vectors of human and animal pathogens, including Leishmania species protozoan parasites and viruses of the genus Phlebovirus. In Europe, visceral zoonotic leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania infantum, a deadly disease when left untreated, is endemic in southern countries, and dogs are the main reservoir hosts for human infection. Most phleboviruses cause asymptomatic infections or flu-like syndromes in humans, but Toscana phlebovirus can cause meningitis and encephalitis. These diseases are likely to re-emerge, posing a growing threat to public and animal health. Potential triggers include the movement of humans and dogs, increasing numbers of immunosuppressive conditions, climate change and other human-mediated environmental changes. An overview of the main epidemiological characteristics of the pathogens transmitted by sand flies in Europe and the potential triggers involved in their emergence and re-emergence are reviewed here. There is a need to implement mandatory notification of human and canine leishmaniases and human phleboviruses and coordinated epidemiological surveillance programmes at a European level, and to raise awareness among healthcare professionals and citizens about sand fly-borne diseases, following a One Health approach.
KW - climate change
KW - emergence
KW - environmental changes
KW - epidemiology
KW - Europe
KW - human-made changes
KW - Leishmania
KW - One Health
KW - Phlebovirus
KW - sand fly-borne diseases
U2 - 10.1016/j.jcpa.2024.01.001
DO - 10.1016/j.jcpa.2024.01.001
M3 - Review article
C2 - 38320331
SN - 0021-9975
VL - 209
SP - 6
EP - 12
JO - Journal Of Comparative Pathology
JF - Journal Of Comparative Pathology
ER -