Leishmania infantum in domestic cats from the municipality of Teresina, state of Piauí, Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Ivete L. de Mendonça
• Data de Publicação: 2017
• Outros Autores: Joilson F. Batista, Juliana M. M. Ribeiro, Fernanda S. B. Rocha, Soraia de Oliveira Silva, Maria Norma Melo
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UFMG
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/1843/39554
• topic: Leishmania infantum; domestic cats; Piauí; Parasitologia; Gatos domésticos; Teresina; ELISA; PCR–RFLP; Leishmania infantum

Feline leishmaniasis has been reported in various parts of the world in recent years, occurring mainly in areas where zoo notic visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is endemic. The purpose of this study was to assess the occurrence of natural infection by Leishmania spp. in domestic cats (Felis catus) in the municipality of Teresina, Piauí state, Brazil, an endemic area of VL in Brazil. The prevalence of infection by Leishmania spp. in the population under study was 4% (3/83) in the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and 4% (3/83) by smear observation and isolation in a culture medium, using popliteal lymphnode sample. Only one of the three infected cats was positive for ELISA, also being positive for feline immunodefi ciency virus. In the haematologic parameters, normocytic normochromic anaemia was the most common change, being present in the three infected animals. In the biochemical measurements also were observed alterations in infected animals. The Leishmania spp. strains isolated from the culture medium were characterized as L. infantum. The presence of L. infantum infection in cats in the city of Teresina, an area endemic for VL, suggests the possible involvement of these animals in the epidemiological chain of L. infantum in high-transmission areas.