Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Canine leishmaniasis antibody rates in Greek mainland dogs
By Athanasiou, L V et al.·Published in Acta tropica·2012·Clinic of Medicine·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: A cross-sectional sero-epidemiological study of canine leishmaniasis in Greek mainland.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study found that nearly 20% of healthy dogs in Greece tested positive for antibodies to Leishmania, the parasite that causes canine leishmaniasis. The highest rates were in dogs from the Attiki region, where about 30% were affected, while the lowest was in Florina at just over 2%. Younger dogs (under 1 year) and older dogs (over 9 years) had lower rates of infection compared to those aged 1-9 years. Understanding these rates helps in planning effective prevention and control measures for this disease.
People also search for: dog leishmaniasis symptoms · Greece dog health · canine leishmaniasis treatment · healthy dog blood test results · Leishmania in dogs prevention
Abstract
Canine leishmaniasis is endemic in Greece as in other countries of the Mediterranean basin. In this study, the regional prevalence of canine seropositivity to Leishmania spp. in Greek mainland was simultaneously assessed in 7 different regions. A total of 2620 serum samples were collected from clinically healthy dogs and were tested for anti-L. infantum antibodies by indirect immunofluorescence antibody test (IFAT) and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A high degree of agreement (κ=0.96) was observed between these two tests. The seroprevalence rate in the whole study population was nearly 20%, being highest among dogs living in Attiki (30.12%) and lowest for those living in Florina (2.05%). There was no difference in terms of the gender of the dogs, their length of hair coat or their utility; on the contrary, seroprevalence rates were significantly higher among dogs in the age groups of 1-3 years (23.39%) and 3-9 years (23.35%) than in younger (2.26%) or older (6.03%) dogs. Epidemiological data on the seroprevalence of canine leishmaniasis provide indirect information on the prevalence of the infection and the disease and are necessary to implement and then to evaluate the effectiveness of control measures.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22366671/