Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Leishmania infantum passed from mother to puppies in beagles
By Rosypal, Alexa C et al.·Published in The Journal of parasitology·2005·Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Transplacental transmission of a North American isolate of Leishmania infantum in an experimentally infected beagle.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of beagles was studied to see if a type of parasite called Leishmania infantum could be passed from a mother dog to her puppies during pregnancy. One female beagle, infected with the parasite, gave birth to four puppies via cesarean section. While one puppy was malformed and did not survive, tests showed that the remaining three puppies had traces of the parasite in their organs, indicating that the infection was transmitted from their mother. This is the first time this type of maternal transmission has been reported in dogs in North America.
People also search for: dog leishmaniasis symptoms · beagle pregnancy complications · puppy infection from mother dog
Abstract
Leishmania infantum, an etiologic agent of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis, is widespread among foxhounds in the United States. Although sand flies are widely distributed throughout the United States, epidemiological data do not support a major role for sand flies in the transmission of L. infantum in foxhounds in this country. Congenital transmission of human visceral leishmaniasis is reported in humans and might also occur in dogs. We have previously isolated L. infantum from Virginia foxhounds and used this isolate (LIVT-1) to experimentally infect beagles. Four female beagles, chronically infected with LIVT-1, were bred to a male beagle chronically infected with L. infantum chagasi. One beagle was able to maintain her pregnancy, and 4 puppies were delivered by cesarean section. One puppy was malformed and autolytic at delivery, and tissues were not collected or analyzed. The remaining puppies were killed at the time of cesarean section, and selected tissues were collected for parasite culture and PCR. Promastigotes were not cultured from tissues in any of the puppies. Leishmania sp. DNA was detectable by PCR in liver, bone marrow, and heart from all 3 puppies and in the spleen, lymph node, kidney, and placenta in 2 puppies. Placental tissue from the dam was PCR negative. This is the first report of maternal transmission of a North American isolate of L. infantum from an experimentally infected dog.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17089780/