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TEMPORAL DISTRIBUTION OF POSITIVE RESULTS OF TESTS FOR DETECTING LEISHMANIA INFECTION IN STRAY DOGS OF AN ENDEMIC AREA OF VISCERAL LEISHMANIASIS IN THE BRAZILIAN TROPICS: A 13 YEARS SURVEY ANDASSOCIATION WITH HUMAN DISEASE
Montenegro’s skin test
Epidemiology
Leishmania infantum
Leishmania chagasi
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Affilliation
Abstract
Human visceral leishmaniasis occurs in periodic waves in endemic areas of Brazil. In this
study we followed the prevalence of human visceral leishmaniasis and of Leishmania infantum
infection in stray dogs of an endemic area of visceral leishmaniasis at periods of time
between 1997 and 2010. Prevalence of human visceral leishmaniasis had two peaks (40
cases) in 1997 and 2006 with sharp declines to 2 cases in 2001 and to 5 cases in 2008.
Similar fluctuations were also observed in the occurrence of positive spleen culture and
anti-Leishmania serology in dogs, although the proportion of dogs with active spleen parasitism
remained relatively high even in the periods of low prevalence of human disease.
These observations support the notion that stray dogs may constitute a renewable source
of parasites, capable of sustaining the persistence of the infection in urban areas, even in
periods of low transmission by phlebotomines
Keywords
Canine visceral leishmaniasisMontenegro’s skin test
Epidemiology
Leishmania infantum
Leishmania chagasi
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