Level of agreement between two commercially available rapid serological tests and the official screening test used to detect Leishmania seropositive dogs in Brazil.

Abstract

This study compared the level of agreement between two commercially available rapid serological tests and the official screening test used to detect Leishmania seropositive dogs in Brazil. Ninety-five canine sera from a visceral leishmaniasis endemic area were tested by using the official immunochromatographic test (T1; rK28 antigen) based on dual path platform technology, a rapid ELISA (T2; purified Leishmania antigens) and an immunochromatographic test (T3; rK28 antigen) based on lateral flow. There was substantial agreement (Kappa 0.77; 95% confidence interval, CI, 0.62-0.91; P<0.001; observed agreement 90.5%) between T1 and T2, and a fair agreement (Kappa 0.26; 95% CI 0.08-0.43; P<0.001; observed agreement 74.7%) between T1 and T3. Sixteen dogs positive at T1 and T2 were negative at T3. T2 may be a reliable alternative to T1, while T3 could lead to an underestimation of the actual number of seropositive dogs.