{"id":35595,"date":"2025-11-05T09:54:30","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T09:54:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joomhost1.com\/leishvet\/?page_id=35595"},"modified":"2025-11-05T10:58:30","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T10:58:30","slug":"etiology-geographic-distribution-and-transmission","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/joomhost1.com\/leishvet\/etiology-geographic-distribution-and-transmission\/","title":{"rendered":"Etiology, Geographic Distribution and Transmission"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row row_height_percent=&#8221;0&#8243; back_color=&#8221;Alive-green1&#8243; overlay_alpha=&#8221;50&#8243; gutter_size=&#8221;3&#8243; column_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243; shift_y=&#8221;0&#8243; z_index=&#8221;0&#8243; content_parallax=&#8221;0&#8243; uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;180015&#8243; back_color_type=&#8221;uncode-palette&#8221;][vc_column column_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243; position_vertical=&#8221;middle&#8221; align_horizontal=&#8221;align_center&#8221; gutter_size=&#8221;3&#8243; overlay_alpha=&#8221;50&#8243; shift_x=&#8221;0&#8243; shift_y=&#8221;0&#8243; shift_y_down=&#8221;0&#8243; z_index=&#8221;0&#8243; medium_width=&#8221;0&#8243; mobile_width=&#8221;0&#8243; width=&#8221;1\/1&#8243; uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;122025&#8243;][vc_custom_heading auto_text=&#8221;yes&#8221; text_color=&#8221;accent&#8221; heading_semantic=&#8221;h1&#8243; text_size=&#8221;h3&#8243; uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;123021&#8243; text_color_type=&#8221;uncode-palette&#8221;]This is a custom heading element.[\/vc_custom_heading][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_height_percent=&#8221;0&#8243; back_color=&#8221;color-lxmt&#8221; overlay_alpha=&#8221;50&#8243; gutter_size=&#8221;3&#8243; column_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243; shift_y=&#8221;0&#8243; z_index=&#8221;0&#8243; content_parallax=&#8221;0&#8243; uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;165069&#8243; back_color_type=&#8221;uncode-palette&#8221;][vc_column column_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243; gutter_size=&#8221;2&#8243; overlay_alpha=&#8221;50&#8243; shift_x=&#8221;0&#8243; shift_y=&#8221;0&#8243; shift_y_down=&#8221;0&#8243; z_index=&#8221;0&#8243; medium_width=&#8221;0&#8243; mobile_width=&#8221;0&#8243; width=&#8221;1\/1&#8243; uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;395019&#8243;][vc_column_text text_lead=&#8221;small&#8221; uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;153815&#8243; el_class=&#8221;text-justify&#8221;]Diseases caused by <em>Leishmania<\/em> spp. in cats are far less known than in dogs and humans, and felines had been considered to be less susceptible than dogs to <em>Leishmania<\/em> infection in the past. However, a high number of investigations confirmed in the last decades the susceptibility of cats to <em>Leishmania<\/em> infection, and that they are infectious to sand fly vectors. Additionally, case reports have increasingly been reported, but controlled field studies about clinical management and therapy are still lacking.<\/p>\n<p>From the above considerations it follows that feline leishmaniosis (FeL) is a topic of interest for feline medicine and that cats play a role in the One Heath approach of leishmaniosis.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column column_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243; gutter_size=&#8221;3&#8243; overlay_alpha=&#8221;50&#8243; shift_x=&#8221;0&#8243; shift_y=&#8221;0&#8243; shift_y_down=&#8221;0&#8243; z_index=&#8221;0&#8243; medium_width=&#8221;0&#8243; mobile_width=&#8221;0&#8243; sticky=&#8221;yes&#8221; width=&#8221;7\/12&#8243; uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;173105&#8243;][vc_single_image media=&#8221;35600&#8243; media_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221; advanced=&#8221;yes&#8221; media_items=&#8221;media|original,sep-one|reduced,caption&#8221; media_text=&#8221;under&#8221; media_overlay_opacity=&#8221;50&#8243; media_h_align=&#8221;center&#8221; media_padding=&#8221;2&#8243; media_text_reduced=&#8221;yes&#8221; uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;477253&#8243;][\/vc_column][vc_column column_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243; gutter_size=&#8221;2&#8243; overlay_alpha=&#8221;50&#8243; shift_x=&#8221;0&#8243; shift_y=&#8221;0&#8243; shift_y_down=&#8221;0&#8243; z_index=&#8221;0&#8243; medium_width=&#8221;0&#8243; mobile_width=&#8221;0&#8243; width=&#8221;5\/12&#8243; uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;719587&#8243;][vc_custom_heading text_color=&#8221;accent&#8221; text_size=&#8221;h5&#8243; uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;178183&#8243; text_color_type=&#8221;uncode-palette&#8221;]Etiology, Geographic Distribution and Transmission[\/vc_custom_heading][vc_column_text text_lead=&#8221;small&#8221; uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;172882&#8243; el_class=&#8221;text-justify&#8221;]Cats are potentially infected by the same <em>Leishmania<\/em> spp. that infect dogs and humans in endemic areas all over the world (Figure 1). <em>Leishmania infantum<\/em> is the most frequently reported species infecting cats, and this fact sheet is based on published data on <em>L. infantum<\/em> infection and the associated feline disease, mostly reported in the Mediterranean Basin and Middle East region. However, this species is largely described in cats also in Central and South America.<\/p>\n<p><em>Leishmania infantum<\/em> is transmitted to cats by sand flies, as they have been shown to feed on cats and to be infected after feeding on naturally infected cats. Moreover, sand flies infected from cats transmitted the infection to dogs. Considering that infected cats are a source of infection to sand flies and generally suffer from chronic infection, LeishVet postulates that, based on new insights in the epidemiology of leishmaniosis, infected cats can represent an additional domestic reservoir for <em>L. infantum<\/em> to humans, dogs, and other susceptible hosts, including cats themselves. However, there is some evidence that cats are likely less infectious to sand flies than dogs.<\/p>\n<p>Non-vectorial transmission of <em>L. infantum<\/em> (blood transfusion, vertical transmission, mating, aggressive interactions) is documented in dogs but not yet in cats. However, <em>Leishmania<\/em> DNA has been detected by PCR in the blood of some healthy cats (see \u201cDiagnosis\u201d and \u201cPrevention\u201d sections).[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_height_percent=&#8221;0&#8243; override_padding=&#8221;yes&#8221; h_padding=&#8221;2&#8243; top_padding=&#8221;2&#8243; bottom_padding=&#8221;4&#8243; back_color=&#8221;color-xsdn&#8221; overlay_alpha=&#8221;50&#8243; gutter_size=&#8221;3&#8243; column_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243; shift_y=&#8221;0&#8243; z_index=&#8221;0&#8243; content_parallax=&#8221;0&#8243; uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;178645&#8243; back_color_type=&#8221;uncode-palette&#8221;][vc_column column_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243; gutter_size=&#8221;2&#8243; overlay_alpha=&#8221;50&#8243; shift_x=&#8221;0&#8243; shift_y=&#8221;0&#8243; shift_y_down=&#8221;0&#8243; z_index=&#8221;0&#8243; medium_width=&#8221;0&#8243; mobile_width=&#8221;0&#8243; width=&#8221;1\/1&#8243; uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;395019&#8243;][vc_button button_color=&#8221;accent&#8221; border_width=&#8221;0&#8243; link=&#8221;url:https%3A%2F%2Fjoomhost1.com%2Fleishvet%2Fprevalence-of-infection-and-coinfections%2F|title:Prevalence%20of%20Infection%20and%20Coinfections&#8221; button_color_type=&#8221;uncode-palette&#8221; uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;878658&#8243;]Keep reading[\/vc_button][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cats are potentially infected by the same <i>Leishmania<\/i> spp. that infect dogs and humans in endemic areas all over the world...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35608,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-35595","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","page_category-feline-factsheet"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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