Journal
PARASITOLOGY RESEARCH
Volume 113, Issue 8, Pages 3057-3061Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00436-014-3970-1
Keywords
Dirofilariosis; Heartworm; Dirofilaria repens; Mosquito; Climate change; Germany
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
After the repeated demonstration of Dirofilaria repens infections in German dogs, D. repens and Dirofilaria immitis DNA was detected in mosquitoes trapped in 2011, 2012 and 2013 in northeastern and southwestern Germany within the framework of culicid monitoring projects. As temperature is the most important factor dictating the extrinsic development of dirofilarial larvae in the potential vector, data of the German Weather Service (DWD) were analysed for the regions where the positive mosquitoes had been collected. Based on the mean daily temperatures recorded by weather stations most closely to the collection sites of the mosquitoes, it can be concluded that the mosquitoes were trapped in time periods that allowed for the completion of the developmental cycle of the worms in the mosquitoes and a subsequent transmission to a vertebrate host. The results of this study confirm the principal climatic suitability of certain German regions for the establishment of natural dirofilarial transmission cycles. Moreover, the theoretical climatic considerations, together with findings of D. repens infections in German dogs and mosquitoes, strongly suggest that the continuing spread of at least D. repens from its traditional habitats in the Mediterranean has reached southwestern and northeastern Germany.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available