title: Canine leishmaniasis: pathological and ecological factors influencing transmission of infection.
abstract: Canine leishmaniasis was studied in 1,823 dogs from the Lisbon metropolitan region. The breeds most affected were doberman and German shepherd, independent of sex and use. Young adult (12.2%) and older dogs (14.7%) had higher prevalences of infection. Parasitological confirmation of serological diagnosis was higher in dogs with indirect fluorescent antibody test titer greater than or equal to 1:512, indicating that parasitological patency is a late event. Exposure of Leishmania in lymph nodes is more efficient for parasitological confirmation (75.4% of cases). Frequent signs of disease were enlarged lymph nodes and onychogriphosis. However, 53.8% of the dogs with significant antibody titers (greater than or equal to 1:128) showed no symptom, suggesting that canine leishmaniasis has a prolonged asymptomatic period. This study confirmed the importance of the dog as the reservoir of visceral leishmaniasis.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Abranches
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Silva-Pereira
authors.forename: F M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Conceição-Silva
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Santos-Gomes
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Janz
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000635:transmission*; D004285:Dogs / Q000469:parasitology; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary*; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000469:parasitology; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011174:Portugal