Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How to test cats for Leishmania infantum infection with IFAT and ELISA
By Chatzis, Manolis K et al.·Published in Experimental parasitology·2014·Clinic of Medicine·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Evaluation of indirect immunofluorescence antibody test and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the diagnosis of infection by Leishmania infantum in clinically normal and sick cats.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats living in areas where Leishmania infantum is common were tested for this infection, which can cause skin and other health issues. Among 100 cats, only a small number showed signs of infection through blood tests, with low levels of antibodies detected. The tests used were not very effective at identifying infected cats, but they were good at confirming the absence of infection when results were negative. This means that while the tests might not be reliable for screening, they can still help diagnose cats that are suspected of having the infection.
People also search for: cat leishmaniasis symptoms · how to test for Leishmania in cats · cat skin infection treatment
Abstract
Cats that live in areas where canine and human leishmaniosis due to Leishmania infantum is endemic may become infected and may develop anti-Leishmania antibodies. In this study 50 clinically normal and 50 cats with cutaneous and/or systemic signs that lived in an endemic area and had been previously examined for infection by L. infantum using PCR in four different tissues were serologically tested for the presence of anti-Leishmania IgG (IFAT and ELISA) and IgM (IFAT). The aim was to compare the results of IFAT, ELISA and PCR and to investigate the possible associations between seropositivity to Leishmania spp and signalment, living conditions, season of sampling, health status of the cats, and seropositivity to other infectious agents. Low concentrations of anti-Leishmania IgG were detected by IFAT in 10% of the cats and by ELISA in 1%, whereas anti-Leishmania IgM were detected by IFAT in 1%. There was disagreement between the results of IFAT and ELISA for anti-Leishmania IgG (P = 0.039) and between all serological tests and PCR (P < 0.001). The diagnostic sensitivity of all serological tests, using PCR as the gold standard, was very low, but ELISA and IFAT for anti-Leishmania IgM had 100% specificity. The diagnostic sensitivity of all serological tests could not be improved by changing the cut-off values. Seropositivity for Leishmania spp was not associated with signalment, living conditions, season of sampling and health status of the cats or with seropositivity to feline leukemia virus, feline immunodeficiency virus, feline coronavirus, Toxoplasma gondii and Bartonella henselae. In conclusion, because of their low sensitivity and very high specificity two of the evaluated serological tests (ELISA for anti-Leishmania IgG and IFAT for anti-Leishmania IgM) may be useless as population screening tests but valuable for diagnosing feline infection by L. infantum.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25307685/