Evaluation of 5 point-of-care tests for the detection ofantibodies in dogs.

Abstract

Canine leishmaniosis is a widespread, potentially fatal disease caused by infection with. We evaluated 5 commercial point-of-care tests (POCTs) for the detection ofantibodies in dog sera and compared their performance with the immunofluorescence assay (IFA) as the reference method. We tested serum samples from 160 dogs that either had lived in or traveled to leishmaniosis-endemic areas using the following immunochromatography POCTs: the trüRapid Leish (Biotech), FASTest Leish (Megacor),Ab (Bionote), and Uranotest2.0 and 3.0 (Uranovet). Practicality, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were determined. The prevalence ofantibodies in all dogs was 28.1% as determined by IFA. The highest sensitivity among POCTs was achieved by theAb and the Uranotest2.0 (88.9%), followed by the trüRapid Leish (86.4%), the Uranotest3.0 (84.4%), and the FASTest Leish (48.9%). The highest specificity was achieved by the FASTest Leish (100%) followed by theAb (98.3%), the trüRapid Leish (96.5%), the Uranotest3.0 (94.8%), and the Uranotest2.0 (90.4%). Given its comparatively high sensitivity and specificity, theAb may be considered for screening dogs from endemic areas and for confirminginfection in clinical dogs.