Find in Library

The incidence of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis has not only been recognized but is, in fact, increasing in territories of northern continental Italy previously regarded as non-endemic. Recent findings of sporadic autochthonous canine infections and the presence of phlebotomine vectors in some provinces of north-eastern Italy have stimulated risk assessment for the spreading of leishmaniasis in the autonomous province of Bolzano-South Tyrol, the northernmost territory of the Italian eastern Alps. In July 2008, 61 phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera, Psychodidae) were caught and identified as <em>Phlebotomus perniciosus</em> and <em>Sergentomyia minuta</em>. This is the first record in South Tyrol of <em>P. perniciosus</em>, the most competent vector of <em>Leishmania infantum</em> in Mediterranean countries. <em>Leishmania serology</em> on local dogs kept in kennels gave negative results, while only imported canine leishmaniasis cases were reported by local veterinarians through a questionnaire survey. Bio-geographic aspects and epidemiological consequences are analyzed in relation with the risk of leishmaniasis introduction into the area.