title: Clinical and hematological findings in Leishmania braziliensis-infected dogs from Pernambuco, Brazil.
abstract: Canine cutaneous leishmaniasis by Leishmania braziliensis is a neglected, but widespread disease of dogs in South America. This paper describes clinical and hematological alterations in 17 L. braziliensis-infected dogs from Brazil. The most common hematological findings were thrombocytopenia (82.4%), anemia (70.6%), low packed cell volume (52.9%) and eosinophilia (41.2%). Twelve (70.6%) dogs displayed at least one evident physical alteration; 11 dogs (64.7%) presented skin lesions, four (23.5%) had weight loss and two (11.8%) onychogryphosis. L. braziliensis-infected dogs present clinical and hematological signs often observed in dogs infected by other pathogens. This indicates that veterinarians and public health workers should not consider the presence of non-specific clinical signs as diagnostic criteria for visceral leishmaniasis in dogs living endemic areas to avoid misdiagnosis and subsequent elimination of dogs infected by L. braziliensis.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Imunologia, Centro de Pesquisas Aggeu Magalhães, Recife, PE, Brasil.
authors.forename: Luciana Aguiar
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Figueredo
authors.forename: Milena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de Paiva-Cavalcanti
authors.forename: Ericka Lima
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.forename: Sinval Pinto
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Brandão-Filho
authors.forename: Filipe
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dantas-Torres
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000469:parasitology*; D004285:Dogs; D007892:Leishmania braziliensis; D016773:Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary*