The role of wildlife in the epidemiology of tick-borne diseases in Slovakia.

Tick-borne diseases (TBD) represent an important challenge for human and veterinary medicine. In Slovakia, studies on the epidemiology of tick-borne pathogens (TBP) regarding reservoir hosts have focused on small mammals and to a lesser extent on birds or lizards, while knowledge of the role of the remaining vertebrate groups is limited. Generally, wild ungulates, hedgehogs, small- and medium-sized carnivores, or squirrels are important feeding hosts for ticks and serve as reservoirs for TBP. Importantly, because they carry infected ticks and/or are serologically positive, they can be used as sentinels to monitor the presence of ticks and TBP in the environment. With their increasing occurrence in urban and suburban habitats, wild ungulates, hedgehogs or foxes are becoming an important component in the developmental cycle of Ixodes ricinus and of TBP such as Anaplasma phagocytophilum or Babesia spp. On the other hand, it has been postulated that cervids may act as dilution hosts for Borrelia burgdorferi (sensu lato) and tick-borne encephalitis virus. In southwestern Slovakia, a high prevalence of infection with Theileria spp. (100%) was observed in some cervid populations, while A. phagocytophilum (prevalence of c.50%) was detected in cervids and wild boars. The following pathogens were detected in ticks feeding on free-ranging ungulates, birds, and hedgehogs: A. phagocytophilum, Rickettsia spp., Coxiella burnetii, Neoehrlichia mikurensis, B. burgdorferi (s.l.), and Babesia spp. The growing understanding of the role of wildlife as pathogen reservoirs and carriers of pathogen-infected ticks offers valuable insights into the epidemiology of TBP, providing a foundation for reducing the risk of TBD.

Cats as a sentinel species for human infectious diseases - toxoplasmosis, trichinellosis, and COVID-19.

In this study, serological screening for Toxoplasma gondii, Trichinella spp., and SARS-CoV-2 in domestic cats was conducted, aiming to identify their exposure to the mentioned pathogens and to assess the risk of potential human infection. In total, serum samples from 481 (310 owned and 171 shelter cats) were collected in Bratislava from September 2020 to September 2021, a period that included the initial outbreak wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study showed a 37.4% (135/441) seroprevalence of T. gondii with a slightly lower seropositivity in shelter cats (35.9%; 61/170) than in owned cats (38.4%; 104/271), but this difference was not statistically significant. Overall, the seroprevalence of Trichinella spp. was 2.0% (9/441), with animals from shelters being positive but not significantly more often (2.9%; 5/170) than owned cats (1.5%; 4/271). SARS-CoV-2 antibodies were detected in 2.7% (13/481) of cat sera (2.9% in shelter cats; 2.6% in owned cats). Among ten samples positive by virus neutralisation assay, two were positive for the B.1 variant. The presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in buccal and rectal swabs (n = 239) was not detected. The seroprevalence of almost 40% for T. gondii in cats suggests a non-negligible risk of human infection. The study confirmed the possibility of Trichinella spp. infection in cats, and thus the possibility of infection spreading between the sylvatic and synanthropic cycle via this animal species. The presented results also showed that the SARS-CoV-2 virus is likely to circulate in cat populations in Slovakia, not only in cats that may have been in contact with infected persons, but also in shelter cats.