First description of autochthonous canine visceral leishmaniasis in the metropolitan region of Vitória, State of Espírito Santo, Brazil.

• Autor(a) principal: Tonini, Marco André Loureiro
• Data de Publicação: 2012
• Outros Autores: Lemos, Elenice Moreira, Reis, Alexandre Barbosa, Vital, Wendel Coura, Dias, Edelberto Santos, Dietze, Reynaldo
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UFOP
• Texto Completo: http://www.repositorio.ufop.br/handle/123456789/4325; http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0037-86822012000600019
• topic: Metropolitan region of Vitoria; Leishmaniasis visceral canine

Introduction: We investigated autochthonous canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) in the metropolitan region of Vitória (MRV), an area in which a human case was previously reported. Methods: Serological, parasitological, and molecular tests were performed in 201 dogs. Results: Twenty-six (13%) and 12 (6%) dogs were identified as positive using in-house enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and rK39 tests, respectively. Two dogs had a positive culture for Leishmania chagasi, and 4 were polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-positive for Leishmania spp. One positive dog belonged to the aforementioned patient. Conclusions: Although the responsible vector was not found, our results provide evidence of autochthonous CVL in the MRV, a non-endemic area for VL.