Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Detecting Leishmania infantum in dogs using 4 sample types and PCR
By Carvalho Ferreira, Aline Leandra et al.·Published in Diagnostic microbiology and infectious disease·2014·Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear (CDTN), Brazil·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Detection of Leishmania infantum in 4 different dog samples by real-time PCR and ITS-1 nested PCR.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
Four dogs were tested for a disease called canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL), which is caused by a parasite and can be serious. Researchers used a special test called real-time PCR to detect the parasite in different samples, including a simple eye swab. They found that the test was very effective, detecting the infection in nearly all dogs that showed no symptoms and in all dogs that were sick. This study highlights how important these tests are for diagnosing CVL in dogs, which helps with controlling the disease.
People also search for: dog leishmaniasis symptoms · how to test for leishmania in dogs · treatment for canine visceral leishmaniasis
Abstract
The canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) diagnosis is an important step of visceral leishmaniasis control program in Brazil, which involves the elimination of infected dogs, the main animal reservoir host of the disease. The aim of the present study was to evaluate a sensitive real-time PCR method for Leishmania infantum detection in 4 different clinical samples of dogs, including the noninvasive conjunctival swab (CS) sample. The results of real-time PCR were compared with those obtained using internal transcribed spacer 1 nested PCR. Animals were divided into 2 groups based on the absence or presence of CVL clinical sings. The CS associated with real-time PCR, using primers addressed to kinetoplast DNA minicircles, was able to detect L. infantum infection in 96.7% of dogs without clinical signs and in 100% of the symptomatic animals, demonstrating the importance of these procedures for diagnosing CVL.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24485588/