Canine visceral leishmaniasis: performance of a rapid diagnostic test (Kalazar Detect) in dogs with and without signs of the disease.
Current visceral leishmaniasis (VL) control programs in Brazil include the infected dog elimination but, despite this strategy, the incidence of human VL is still increasing. One of the reasons is the long delay between sample collection, analysis, control implementation and the low sensitivity of diagnostic tests. Due to the high prevalence of asymptomatic dogs, the diagnosis of these animals is important considering their vector infection capacity. Hence, a rapid and accurate diagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniasis is essential for an efficient surveillance program. In this study we evaluated the performance of rK39 antigen in an immunochromatographic format to detect symptomatic and asymptomatic Leishmania chagasi infection in dogs and compared the results with those using a crude antigen ELISA. The sensitivity of rK39 dipstick and ELISA were 83% vs. 95%, respectively, while the specificity was both 100%. Our results also demonstrated that the dipstick test was able to detect infected dogs presenting different clinical forms.
Núcleo de Doenças Infecciosas, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Vitória, ES, Brazil.
Elenice Moreira
EM
Lemos
Márcia Dalastra
MD
Laurenti
Márcio Antônio Batistela
MA
Moreira
Alexandre Barbosa
AB
Reis
Rodolfo Cordeiro
RC
Giunchetti
Syamal
S
Raychaudhuri
Reynaldo
R
Dietze
D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood*; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D002845:Chromatography / Q000379:methods; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004285:Dogs; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D007118:Immunoassay; D007891:Leishmania / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000469:parasitology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013997:Time Factors
D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; C079253:K39 antigen, Leishmania