Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Leishmania infantum found in 3.7% of dogs in northwestern Spain
By Amusategui, Inmaculada et al.·Published in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·2004·College of Veterinary Medicine, Spain·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Seroprevalence of Leishmania infantum in northwestern Spain, an area traditionally considered free of leishmaniasis.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study in northwestern Spain found that 3.7% of dogs tested positive for Leishmania infantum, a parasite that can cause leishmaniasis. Most of the infected dogs were from two areas, Valdcorras and Ourense, where the rates were notably higher. Many of these dogs showed symptoms of the disease, even though some had never traveled outside their local area. The research also indicated that companion dogs were less likely to get infected compared to working dogs like sheep and hunting dogs.
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Abstract
Northwestern Spain has traditionally been considered to be free from leishmaniasis. The aim of this work was to determine the prevalence of canine leishmaniasis in this area and to assess the influence of several risk factors on the incidence of this disease. A total of 479 dogs attended at different veterinary clinics in northwestern Spain were tested for L. infantum with the immunofluorescent antibody (IFA) test. The seroprevalence of L. infantum in this area was 3.7%. Most of the seropositive dogs lived in two locations: Valdcorras (seroprevalence of 29.2%) and Ourense (seroprevalence of 7.5%). The detection of high antibody titers in most of the seropositive dogs (many of which presented clinical signs) coupled with the certainity that some of these dogs had never been outside their home areas indicates the presence of this zoonosis in these two sites. On the other hand, companion dogs were significantly less likely to acquire the disease than sheep dogs, hunting dogs, and those from kennels.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15604485/