Table 1.
Species of Leishmania identified in cats and geographical areas of description
| Species | Country (area) | Method | Global distribution | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leishmania amazonensis | Brazil (Mato Grosso do Sul state) | ILMA | South America | [73] |
| Leishmania braziliensis | Brazil (Belo Horizonte city) | PCR and hybridization | Central and South America | [92]c |
| Brazil (Rio de Janeiro city) | MLEE | [74] | ||
| France (French Guiana) | PCR and sequencing | [93]d | ||
| Leishmania infantum | Iran (Fars and East Azerbaijan provinces) | PCR and MLEE | China, Middle East, Mediterranean basin, and Central and South America | [94] |
| Italy (Imperia, Liguria) | PCR-RFLP | [26] | ||
| Italy (Messina, Sicily) | MLEE | [10] | ||
| Italy (Lipari island, Sicily) | MLEE and PCR-RFLP | [11] | ||
| Switzerlanda | PCR and sequencing | [50] | ||
| France (Alpes-Maritimes) | MLEE | [12] | ||
| Spain (Barcelona) | PCR and sequencing | [29] | ||
| Spain (Madrid community) | PCR and sequencing | [33, 78] | ||
| Spaina | ILMA | [68] | ||
| Spain (Mallorca)b | PCR-RFLP | [95] | ||
| Portugal (Lisbon region) | PCR and sequencing | [96, 97] | ||
| Portugal (Lisbon and Algarve regions) | PCR and sequencing | [98] | ||
| Greece (Thessaly and Macedonia) | PCR and sequencing | [99] | ||
| Brazil (Cotia, São Paulo state) | PCR and sequencing | [100] | ||
| Brazil (Rio de Janeiro) | PCR and hybridization | [101] | ||
| Brazil (Andradina, São Paulo state) | PCR and sequencing | [102, 103] | ||
| Brazil (Araçatuba, São Paulo state) | PCR and sequencing | [104] | ||
| Leishmania mexicana | USA (Texas) | MLEE | North and Central America | [75]e |
| USA (Texas) | PCR and sequencing | [76] | ||
| Leishmania venezuelensis | Venezuela (Barquisimeto city) | MLEE and ILMA | South America | [105] |
aNo data available on the exact origin; bFeral cats; cSubgenus Viannia (species L. braziliensis geographically assumed); d L. braziliensis complex (species L. braziliensis reasonably assumed; Leishmania peruviana species geographically excluded); e L. mexicana complex; ILMA: immunolabelling with monoclonal antibodies; MLEE: multilocus isoenzyme electrophoresis; PCR: polymerase chain reaction; RFLP: restriction fragment length polymorphism