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12th Symposium on Companion Vector-borne Diseases (CVBD)

This thematic series comprises papers submitted in relation to the 12th Symposium of the CVBD World Forum, Athens, Greece, 13th – 16th March 2017, that was sponsored by Bayer Animal Health.

The article processing charges (APC) for the articles in this series were funded by Bayer Animal Health. All articles in this series have undergone the journal’s standard peer-review process and each article can also be found individually in the journal.


  1. The genus Bartonella includes fastidious, facultative intracellular bacteria mainly transmitted by arthropods and distributed among mammalian reservoirs. Bartonella spp. implicated as etiological agents of zoonos...

    Authors: José A. Oteo, Ricardo Maggi, Aránzazu Portillo, Julie Bradley, Lara García-Álvarez, Montserrat San-Martín, Xavier Roura and Edward Breitschwerdt
    Citation: Parasites & Vectors 2017 10:553
  2. Vector-borne diseases (VBDs) have been increasingly reported in dogs and cats worldwide. However, no data are currently available regarding canine and feline VBDs in Qatar and limited information is available ...

    Authors: Ana Margarida Alho, Clara Lima, Maria Stefania Latrofa, Vito Colella, Silvia Ravagnan, Gioia Capelli, Luís Madeira de Carvalho, Luís Cardoso and Domenico Otranto
    Citation: Parasites & Vectors 2017 10:298
  3. Infections with tick-borne rickettsiae can cause diseases well known in humans but still not so well characterized in dogs. Susceptibility to infection depends on the virulence of Rickettsia spp. and only a few o...

    Authors: Patrícia F. Barradas, Hugo Vilhena, Ana Cristina Oliveira, Sara Granada, Irina Amorim, Paula Ferreira, Luís Cardoso, Fátima Gärtner and Rita de Sousa
    Citation: Parasites & Vectors 2017 10:271
  4. Canine leishmaniosis (CanL) has been in the spotlight since the 2009 outbreak of human leishmaniosis in Madrid. In the framework of the Leishmaniosis Surveillance Programme set up in Madrid, this study examines L...

    Authors: Guadalupe Miró, Aurora Müller, Ana Montoya, Rocía Checa, Valentina Marino, Eloy Marino, Fernando Fuster, Cristina Escacena, Miguel Angel Descalzo and Rosa Gálvez
    Citation: Parasites & Vectors 2017 10:209
  5. Canine leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania infantum is a parasitic disease of great veterinary significance. Some dogs infected by L. infantum may mount a strong cellular immune response and clear the infection, w...

    Authors: Lidiane Gomes da Silva, César Raimundo Lima Costa-Júnior, Carlos Alberto Santiago Figueiredo-Júnior, Tereza Cristina Leal-Balbino, Sergio Crovella, Domenico Otranto, Valdir de Queiroz Balbino and Filipe Dantas-Torres
    Citation: Parasites & Vectors 2017 10:199
  6. Tick-borne diseases are of substantial concern worldwide for animals as well as humans. Dogs have been a human companion for millennia, and their significant impact on human life renders disease in dogs to be ...

    Authors: Martin O. Andersson, Conny Tolf, Paula Tamba, Mircea Stefanache, Jonas Waldenström, Gerhard Dobler and Lidia Chițimia-Dobler
    Citation: Parasites & Vectors 2017 10:155
  7. Previous surveys in dogs from Korea indicated that dogs are exposed to a variety of vector- borne pathogens, but perception for a nation-wide canine vector-borne disease (CVBD) occurrence has been missing. We ...

    Authors: Guk-Hyun Suh, Kyu-Sung Ahn, Jong-Ho Ahn, Ha-Jung Kim, Christian Leutenegger and SungShik Shin
    Citation: Parasites & Vectors 2017 10:146
  8. Piroplasmosis caused by the Babesia microti-like piroplasm (Bml) is increasingly being detected in dogs in Europe. Sick dogs show acute disease with severe anaemia associated with thrombocytopenia with a poor res...

    Authors: Rocío Checa, Ana Montoya, Nieves Ortega, José Luis González-Fraga, Adrián Bartolomé, Rosa Gálvez, Valentina Marino and Guadalupe Miró
    Citation: Parasites & Vectors 2017 10:145
  9. Dirofilaria immitis is a mosquito-borne pathogen that is spreading worldwide, and the associated infection (i.e. dirofilariosis) is becoming a threat to animals and humans living in en...

    Authors: Ana Margarida Alho, Inês Marcelino, Vito Colella, Carla Flanagan, Nuno Silva, Jorge Jesus Correia, Maria Stefania Latrofa, Domenico Otranto and Luís Madeira de Carvalho
    Citation: Parasites & Vectors 2017 10:142
  10. The taxonomic status of the brown dog tick Rhipicephalus sanguineus (sensu stricto) is a subject of on-going debate; there is a consensus that populations of this tick species should be referred to as R. sanguine...

    Authors: Filipe Dantas-Torres, Carla Maia, Maria Stefania Latrofa, Giada Annoscia, Luís Cardoso and Domenico Otranto
    Citation: Parasites & Vectors 2017 10:133
  11. Hemotropic mycoplasmas (hemoplasmas), the agents of infectious anemia, have been reported in dogs and cats. Little data are available on hemoplasma infections in Italy. The aim of this study was to evaluate th...

    Authors: Silvia Ravagnan, Erika Carli, Eleonora Piseddu, Graziana Da Rold, Elena Porcellato, Claudia Zanardello, Antonio Carminato, Marta Vascellari and Gioia Capelli
    Citation: Parasites & Vectors 2017 10:132
  12. The spleen is a highly perfused organ involved in the immunological control and elimination of vector-borne pathogens (VBP), which could have a fundamental role in the pathogenesis of splenic disease. This stu...

    Authors: Rebeca Movilla, Laura Altet, Lorena Serrano, María-Dolores Tabar and Xavier Roura
    Citation: Parasites & Vectors 2017 10:131
  13. Feline infectious agent studies are lacking in Cyprus. The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence and risk factors for various feline infectious agents, including feline vector-borne pathogens (FV...

    Authors: Charalampos Attipa, Kostas Papasouliotis, Laia Solano-Gallego, Gad Baneth, Yaarit Nachum-Biala, Elpida Sarvani, Toby G. Knowles, Sena Mengi, David Morris, Chris Helps and Séverine Tasker
    Citation: Parasites & Vectors 2017 10:130
  14. Rickettsia felis and Rickettsia typhi are emerging arthropod-borne zoonoses causing fever and flu-like symptoms. Seroprevalence and risk factors associated with exposure to these organ...

    Authors: Yen Thon Teoh, Sze Fui Hii, Mark A. Stevenson, Stephen Graves, Robert Rees, John Stenos and Rebecca J. Traub
    Citation: Parasites & Vectors 2017 10:129
  15. Babesia rossi, which is transmitted by Haemaphysalis spp. and is highly virulent to domestic dogs, occurs only in sub-Saharan Africa. Since dogs are not native to the region, it has be...

    Authors: Barend L. Penzhorn, Ilse Vorster, Robert F. Harrison-White and Marinda C. Oosthuizen
    Citation: Parasites & Vectors 2017 10:124
  16. A wide spectrum of clinical manifestations and immune responses exist in canine L. infantum infection. Ibizan hounds are more “resistant” to disease than other dog breeds. Recognition of pathogen-associated molec...

    Authors: Pamela Martínez-Orellana, Paulina Quirola-Amores, Sara Montserrat-Sangrà, Laura Ordeix, Joan Llull, Alejandra Álvarez-Fernández and Laia Solano-Gallego
    Citation: Parasites & Vectors 2017 10:123
  17. Normal-looking skin of dogs with leishmaniosis frequently shows microscopic lesions along with the presence of Leishmania amastigotes. However, histological lesions with or without detection of amastigotes might ...

    Authors: Laura Ordeix, Annabel Dalmau, Montsant Osso, Joan Llull, Sara Montserrat-Sangrà and Laia Solano-Gallego
    Citation: Parasites & Vectors 2017 10:121
  18. Anti-Leishmania antibodies are increasingly investigated in cats for epidemiological studies or for the diagnosis of clinical feline leishmaniosis. The immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT), the enzyme-linked im...

    Authors: Maria Flaminia Persichetti, Laia Solano-Gallego, Angela Vullo, Marisa Masucci, Pierre Marty, Pascal Delaunay, Fabrizio Vitale and Maria Grazia Pennisi
    Citation: Parasites & Vectors 2017 10:119
  19. Borrelia burgdorferi (sensu lato) and rickettsiae of the spotted fever group are zoonotic tick-borne pathogens. While small mammals are confirmed reservoirs for certain Borrelia spp., ...

    Authors: Anna Obiegala, Nina Król, Carolin Oltersdorf, Julian Nader and Martin Pfeffer
    Citation: Parasites & Vectors 2017 10:115
  20. Lyme borreliosis is a common tick-borne disease of the northern hemisphere that is caused by bacterial spirochaetes of the Borrelia burgdorferi (sensu lato) (Bbsl) complex. To date, there has been no convincing e...

    Authors: Peter J. Irwin, Ian D. Robertson, Mark E. Westman, Martine Perkins and Reinhard K. Straubinger
    Citation: Parasites & Vectors 2017 10:114
  21. Infection and clinical disease associated with Leishmania major and Leishmania tropica, two common agents of human cutaneous leishmaniosis, have rarely been reported in dogs. This study describes dogs infected wi...

    Authors: Gad Baneth, Daniel Yasur-Landau, Matan Gilad and Yaarit Nachum-Biala
    Citation: Parasites & Vectors 2017 10:113
  22. Different species of apicomplexan protozoans of the genera Hepatozoon and Cytauxzoon can infect domestic cats, but their epidemiology and clinical relevance are not fully understood. The aim of this study was to ...

    Authors: David Díaz-Regañón, Alejandra Villaescusa, Tania Ayllón, Fernando Rodríguez-Franco, Gad Baneth, Lydia Calleja-Bueno, Mercedes García-Sancho, Beatriz Agulla and Ángel Sainz
    Citation: Parasites & Vectors 2017 10:112
  23. Phlebotomine sand fly-borne diseases such as leishmanioses and phleboviruses are emerging threats to animal and public health. Canine leishmaniosis caused by Leishmania infantum is an endemic zoonosis in Portugal...

    Authors: Carla Maia, Sulaf Alwassouf, José Manuel Cristóvão, Nazli Ayhan, André Pereira, Remi N. Charrel and Lenea Campino
    Citation: Parasites & Vectors 2017 10:92
  24. In Argentina, only very few reports are available for canine tick-borne diseases where most are related to parasitic diseases. The objective of this survey was to investigate the prevalence of tick-borne patho...

    Authors: Patricia E. Mascarelli, Gustavo P. Tartara, Norma B. Pereyra and Ricardo G. Maggi
    Citation: Parasites & Vectors 2016 9:642