Leishmania infantum infection in wildlife is increasingly reported in Europe, but scant data are available in Italy so far. This study aimed to investigate the circulation of L. infantum among sylvatic hosts in Sicily (southern Italy), a highly endemic area for canine leishmaniosis, through serological and molecular tools. Target tissues (skin, spleen, lymph nodes) collected from 71 European rabbits, 2 European hares, 7 red foxes, 11 European wildcats and 1 pine marten, were qPCR analysed for the detection of L. infantum DNA. Additionally, 40 rabbits, older than one year, were serologically screened for specific anti-Leishmania antibodies. Leishmania infantum was molecularly diagnosed in 5.4% (n = 5) of the examined animals (3/71 European rabbits, 2/7 red foxes). In many of the qPCR positive animals (4/5), the parasite DNA was more prevalent in visceral than cutaneous tissues. None of the positive animal showed signs of disease and/or macroscopic alterations of organs; low parasitic burden in all positive tissue samples was also recorded. Only one rabbit serum (i.e., 2.5%) tested positive for anti-Leishmania antibodies. The seropositive rabbit was in good health status and no amastigotes were observed in lymph-node aspirate and blood smears. This study provides first evidence of L. infantum infection in wild animals from Sicily (southern Italy). Despite the low prevalence of infection here reported, the circulation of the Leishmania in wild reservoirs in Sicily remains worthy of future investigations for a better understanding of their role in the epidemiology of the disease as well as to fine-tune control strategies in the area.

中文翻译：

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意大利南部流行地区野生动物中的婴儿利什曼原虫。

欧洲越来越多地报道了野生动植物利什曼原虫感染的报道，但到目前为止，意大利的数据很少。这项研究的目的是通过血清学和分子学工具调查西西里岛（意大利南部）的高度流行性犬利什曼病流行地区的婴儿宿主中的L. infantum的循环。对从71只欧洲兔，2只欧洲野兔，7只赤狐，11只欧洲野猫和1只松貂中收集的目标组织（皮肤，脾脏，淋巴结）进行了qPCR分析，以检测婴儿乳杆菌DNA。另外，从血清学上筛选了40只1岁以上的兔子中的特异性抗利什曼原虫抗体。在5.4％（n = 5）的动物（3/71只欧洲兔，2/7赤狐）中分子诊断出婴儿利什曼原虫。在许多qPCR阳性动物中（4/5），内脏中的寄生虫DNA比皮肤组织更普遍。没有阳性动物表现出疾病迹象和/或器官的宏观变化；所有阳性组织样本中的寄生虫负担也很低。只有一种兔血清（即2.5％）的抗利什曼原虫抗体测试呈阳性。血清反应阳性的兔子处于良好的健康状态，在淋巴结抽吸物和血液涂片中未观察到扁桃体。这项研究提供了来自西西里岛（意大利南部）的野生动物中婴儿乳杆菌感染的初步证据。尽管此处报道的感染率较低，但利什曼原虫在西西里岛野生水库中的流通仍值得进一步研究，以更好地了解其在疾病流行病学中的作用以及调整该地区的控制策略。