SHORT COMMUNICATION Evidences of increasing risk of dirofilarioses in southern Italy A. Giangaspero & M. Marangi & M. S. Latrofa & D. Martinelli & D. Traversa & D. Otranto & C. Genchi Received: 21 September 2012 / Accepted: 20 November 2012 / Published online: 7 December 2012 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012 Abstract Given the spread of Aedes albopictus from northern to southern Italy, and the lack of updated data on Dirofilaria infections, this study was carried out to assess the infection risk for dogs and cats in Apulia region. During a 2-year study, 175 A. albopictus female specimens and samples of blood from 427 dogs (309 privately owned dogs and 118 shelter dogs) and 12 cats were collected. All blood samples were subjected to a modified Knott method, to a test for the detection of circulating Dirofilaria immitis antigen, and to a Dirofilaria species- specific real-time PCR for the simultaneous detection of D. immitis and Dirofilaria repens, targeting on partial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 and internal transcribed spacer-2, respective- ly. Two abdomen and one thorax pools from A. albopictus were positive for D. immitis, with minimum infection rates of 1.14 and 0.51, respectively, and a probability of a single positive specimen to be infected of P 0 0.6 % (95 % confidence interval (CI) 0 0.12–1.73). Out of 439 examined subjects, 22 (5.0 %) tested positive for Dirofilaria spp. in at least one diagnostic test. A specific D. immitis infestation rate of 3.5 % was found among the privately owned dogs, while shelter dogs tested positive only for D. repens with a prevalence of 3.4 %; one cat tested molecularly positive for D. immitis. There was a significantly higher rate of positivity among guard dogs for D. immitis (odds ratio, 6.24, 95 % CI, 1.26–25.28; P <0.05). The increasing risk of D. immitis infection in southern Italy is supported by the noteworthy positivity of A. albopictus pop- ulations and the cat. Our data highlight the usefulness to include filarioid infestation in routine diagnosis. Dirofilaria immitis and Dirofilaria repens (Spirurida, Onchocercidae) are the most important mosquito-borne filar- ial infections of carnivores, and D. immitis is the causative agent of heartworm disease in dogs and cats. The adult worms are located in the pulmonary arteries and the right-hand heart chambers and cause a life-threatening condition known as canine and feline heartworm disease (McCall et al. 2008). Adult D. repens worms are found in subcutaneous tissues and peri-muscular connective fasciae and in most cases the infections is asymptomatic (McCall et al. 2008), although some infections have been reported as characterized by sub- cutaneous nodules and allergic dermatitis (Mandelli and Mantovani 1966; Rocconi et al. 2012). Both species are of worldwide zoonotic concern, as agents of human dirofilariosis (Pampiglione and Rivasi 2000; Genchi et al. 2011; Otranto and Eberhard 2011). Various factors (environmental and climatic changes, increasing of mosquito populations, and human and animal movements) have favored the recent increase of infection rates in regions where the parasites are endemic and also their spreading to geographic areas (e.g., northern and east- ern Europe) previously free from these infections (Sassnau et al. 2009; Genchi et al. 2010; Kartashev et al. 2011). Italy is situated between 36° and 47° N, is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, and has a climate with hot summers and A. Giangaspero (*) : M. Marangi Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, degli Alimenti e dell’Ambiente, Università degli Studi di Foggia, Via Napoli 25, Foggia, Italy e-mail: a.giangaspero@unifg.it URL: www.unifg.it M. S. Latrofa : D. Otranto Dipartimento di Medicina veterinaria, Università di Bari, Bari, Italy D. Martinelli Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Chirurgiche, Università di Foggia, Foggia, Italy D. Traversa Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche Comparate, Università di Teramo, Teramo, Italy C. Genchi Dipartimento di Scienze veterinarie e Sanità pubblica, Università di Milano, Milan, Italy Parasitol Res (2013) 112:1357–1361 DOI 10.1007/s00436-012-3206-1