title: Seroepidemiological survey of Leishmania infantum infection in dogs from northeastern Portugal.
abstract: Northeastern Portugal is a region where canine leishmaniasis (CanL) is endemic. In this study, a sero-epidemiological survey was conducted in 654 dogs from that geographical area. Serum samples were evaluated by the direct agglutination test (DAT) and also by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using five different defined antigens. Seroprevalence of infection was 21.3% based on the assumption that seropositive animals were positive for at least three tests. A high degree of agreement was found between DAT and LAM-ELISA (89%; kappa value [κ] = 0.67). A statistically significant difference (p<0.05) of seropositivity was found between adult (23.4%) and juvenile dogs (12.2%), apparently healthy (14.8%) and sick dogs (40.2%), vaccinated (19.7%) and non-vaccinated (41.2%) animals, seropositive (26.9%) and seronegative (18.0%) for Toxoplasma gondii, living in rural (18.5%) or urban (32.6%) areas, and between animals living exclusively outdoors (18.2%) and those living in a mixed habitat (27.5%). Risk factors for canine Leishmania infection, as defined by multiple logistic regression analysis, were of clinical status (odds ratio [OR] = 3.1) and Toxoplasma infection (OR = 1.5).
authors: Parasite Disease Group, Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Portugal. susanasousa_76@hotmail.com
authors: Susana
authors: S
authors: Sousa
authors: Ana Patricia
authors: AP
authors: Lopes
authors: Luís
authors: L
authors: Cardoso
authors: Ricardo
authors: R
authors: Silvestre
authors: Henk
authors: H
authors: Schallig
authors: Steven G
authors: SG
authors: Reed
authors: Anabela
authors: A
authors: Cordeiro da Silva
mesh_terms: D000372:Agglutination Tests / Q000662:veterinary; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood*; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000276:immunology; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D004285:Dogs; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood*; D018314:Leishmania infantum / Q000276:immunology*; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000276:immunology / Q000662:veterinary; D011174:Portugal; D012307:Risk Factors; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000276:immunology; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D007074:Immunoglobulin G