Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Rapid test accuracy for diagnosing visceral leishmaniasis in dogs
By Lemos, Elenice Moreira et al.·Published in Acta tropica·2008·Nú, Brazil·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Canine visceral leishmaniasis: performance of a rapid diagnostic test (Kalazar Detect) in dogs with and without signs of the disease.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study looked at a rapid test for diagnosing visceral leishmaniasis (a serious disease caused by a parasite) in dogs, both those showing symptoms and those that seemed healthy. The test was able to identify infected dogs with an accuracy of 83%, while a more traditional lab test was slightly better at 95%. However, both tests were very specific, meaning they correctly identified healthy dogs without the disease. This rapid test could help in quickly identifying infected dogs, which is important for controlling the spread of the disease.
People also search for: dog leishmaniasis symptoms · rapid test for dog diseases · how to test dog for leishmaniasis
Abstract
Current visceral leishmaniasis (VL) control programs in Brazil include the infected dog elimination but, despite this strategy, the incidence of human VL is still increasing. One of the reasons is the long delay between sample collection, analysis, control implementation and the low sensitivity of diagnostic tests. Due to the high prevalence of asymptomatic dogs, the diagnosis of these animals is important considering their vector infection capacity. Hence, a rapid and accurate diagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniasis is essential for an efficient surveillance program. In this study we evaluated the performance of rK39 antigen in an immunochromatographic format to detect symptomatic and asymptomatic Leishmania chagasi infection in dogs and compared the results with those using a crude antigen ELISA. The sensitivity of rK39 dipstick and ELISA were 83% vs. 95%, respectively, while the specificity was both 100%. Our results also demonstrated that the dipstick test was able to detect infected dogs presenting different clinical forms.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18565485/