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Peer-reviewed veterinary case report

Prevalence of Chagas and leishmaniasis in rural dogs in Piauí Brazil

By Perez, Taliha Dias et al.·Published in Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de Sao Paulo·2016·Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Brazil·View original on PubMed

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Original publication title: PREVALENCE OF AMERICAN TRYPANOSOMIASIS AND LEISHMANIASES IN DOMESTIC DOGS IN A RURAL AREA OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF SÃO JOÃO DO PIAUÍ, PIAUÍ STATE, BRAZIL.

Species:
dog

Plain-English summary

In a rural area of Brazil, researchers found that many domestic dogs were infected with parasites that cause Chagas disease and leishmaniasis. Out of 129 dogs tested, 38% showed signs of leishmaniasis, while 28% were positive for Chagas disease. Some dogs underwent further testing, including skin biopsies and blood tests, which confirmed a few cases of the parasites. This study highlights the importance of monitoring these diseases in dogs, as they can spread to humans.

People also search for: dog leishmaniasis symptoms · Chagas disease in dogs · how to treat leishmaniasis in pets

Abstract

Chagas disease and the leishmaniases are endemic zoonoses of great importance to public health in the state of Piauí, Brazil. The domestic dog (Canis familiaris) is a major reservoir, host of Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania spp. in both urban and rural areas, playing an important role in the transmission of these parasites. The present study evaluated the prevalence of both infectious diseases in dogs of a rural area in the municipality of São João do Piauí, Piauí State. One hundred twenty-nine blood samples were collected for serological assessment: for the leishmaniases, 49 (38%) animals tested positive by the Dual-Path Platform technology (DPP), nine (6%) by the Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), and 19 (14.7%) by the Indirect Fluorescent Antibody test (IFA); while for American Trypanosomiasis, 36 (28%) dogs were reagent by ELISA and 21 by IFA. Of the 129 dogs sampled, 76 were submitted to xenodiagnosis, bone marrow aspiration and skin biopsy to perform parasitological tests whose results showed only one (2.3%) positive skin sample for Trypanosoma caninum and one positive xenodiagnosis for T. cruzi, both results confirmed by molecular assays. Three hundred triatomines of the species Triatoma brasiliensis and 552 phlebotomines - 509 (97%) of the species Lutzomyia longipalpis, were also captured.

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Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27828620/