Paraziták terjedése a változó európai környezetben: a szívféreg példája hazánkból - Rövidített másodközlés

Abstract

SUMMARY Europe has experienced the spreading of heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) from the Mediterranean countries towards the northern ones in the past decades. Hungary was not considered to be a heartworm endemic country until 2007, when the first autochthonous canine infections were described. On the basis of our retrospective (2001−2015) and period prevalence studies (2013−2015), autochthonous heartworm infection was detected in 27 dogs (n = 2622), 23 red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) (n = 937) and 2 golden jackals (Canis aureus) (n = 27) coming from eight counties. The time course analysis indicates that the parasite established in Hungary in 2007, and a significant increase of the prevalence and expansion of the geographic range of the parasite could be observed until 2015. As temperature is one of the major determinants of the distribution of D. immitis, the climate of the Great Hungarian Plain is the most suitable region for the establishment of D. immitis in Hungary. Our studies revealed that the Great Hungarian Plain is currently a D. immitis endemic region where the prevalence was similar in dogs (4.6%) and foxes (4.5%). The comparison of the time course of expansion of golden jackals and heartworms in Eastern Europe suggests that besides global warming, nature conservation efforts resulting in the population increase of these reservoir hosts might also have played a significant role in the spreading of D. immitis in this region of Europe.