title: Canine leishmaniasis in Algeria: true prevalence and diagnostic test characteristics in groups of dogs of different functional type.
abstract: A Bayesian approach was used to assess the prevalence of Canine leishmaniasis and evaluate three serological diagnostic tests: indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT), direct agglutination test, and particle gel immuno-assay (PaGIA) for Canine leishmaniasis (CL) in Algiers. Four hundred and sixty-two dogs were involved in this study and divided in four groups according to their functional type: stray dogs, farm dogs, national guard dogs and pet dogs. The stray dog group showed the highest prevalence of leishmaniasis (11.7%), followed by the national guard dogs (9.7%) and the farm dogs (5.9%). IFAT was shown to be the most sensitive test in all groups. However, IFAT specificity was considerably lowered in the farm dog group: 65.2% versus 94.5% for the stray dogs. A considerable drop in PaGIA specificity was noted in the stray dogs group. The results of the current study demonstrate the variability of test characteristics in different situations and underline the danger of using standard values, without verifying their appropriateness for the specific purposes.
authors.affiliation: BP 179 Cité Malki Ben Aknoun, Alger, Algeria.
authors.forename: Amel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Adel
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Saegerman
authors.forename: Niko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Speybroeck
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Praet
authors.forename: Bjorn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Victor
authors.forename: Redgi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: De Deken
authors.forename: Abdelkrim
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Soukehal
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Berkvens
mesh_terms: D000372:Agglutination Tests / Q000662:veterinary; D000462:Algeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D000818:Animals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004285:Dogs; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect / Q000662:veterinary; D007896:Leishmaniasis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies