<i>Angiostrongylus vasorum</i> in Domestic Dogs in Castilla y León, Iberian Peninsula, Spain
Rodrigo Morchón,
José Alberto Montoya-Alonso,
José Ángel Sánchez-Agudo,
Juan de Vicente-Bengochea,
Xiomara Murcia-Martínez,
Elena Carretón
Affiliations
Rodrigo Morchón
Zoonotic Disease and One Heatlh Group, Faculty of Pharmacy, Campus Miguel Unamuno, University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
José Alberto Montoya-Alonso
Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Research Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences (IUIBS), University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 35413 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
José Ángel Sánchez-Agudo
Research Group on Biodiversity, Human Diversity and Conservation Biology, Campus Miguel Unamuno, University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
Juan de Vicente-Bengochea
Zoonotic Disease and One Heatlh Group, Faculty of Pharmacy, Campus Miguel Unamuno, University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
Xiomara Murcia-Martínez
Zoonotic Disease and One Heatlh Group, Faculty of Pharmacy, Campus Miguel Unamuno, University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
Elena Carretón
Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Research Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences (IUIBS), University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 35413 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
Angiostrongylus vasorum is the causative agent of canine angiostrongylosis, a disease affecting domestic and wild canids. In Europe, it is an emerging disease, mainly reported in red foxes. In Spain, there are a few studies that address the prevalence and pathology of this disease. Castilla y León is the largest region of the Iberian Peninsula, whose extensive area is 94,224 km2; however, until now, there have been no epidemiological studies on this disease. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the presence of antigens of A. vasorum in 1475 dogs from Castilla y León, showing an overall prevalence of 0.75%. The infected dogs were mainly outdoors, guard and hunting breed dogs and living in locations with mild climates close to areas of high edaphic humidity, such as stagnant water, irrigated crops or riverbanks, with the vegetation dominated by alders, holm oak and gall oak forests, where the intermediate hosts develop. It is necessary to carry out more in-depth studies on the epidemiology and pathology of this disease in Spain and Europe in order to carry out efficient control in both domestic and wild animals.
