Seroepidemiological and Molecular Study of Canine Visceral Leishmaniasis in Maragheh, Northwest of Iran

Background: Canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) is a systemic disease with a high mortality rate, caused by a diphasic protozoan parasite. This infection is transmitted by sandflies and domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) are principal reservoir hosts for Mediterranean type of visceral leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania infantum. Objectives: Following an epidemic in children in the south of East Azerbaijan province/Maragheh city in children, this present study was to determine the presence of CVL among stray and owned dogs in endemic regions s Maragheh, using a range of serological methods. Materials and Methods: Blood samples were taken from 150 from all owned dogs from north villages in Maragheh. Collected blood samples were tested by direct agglutination test (DAT) to detect the anti-Leishmania antibodies in dogs, using a cut-off value of ≥1:320. PCR amplification of kDNA from samples of DAT positive was studied. Results: The anti-Leishmania antibody was detected in 7 dogs (4.7 %) of the total 150 studied dogs. No significant difference was found between VL infection and gender. In contrast, there was a significant difference between seropositivity and age (P<0.05). Among the samples which was characterized by PCR based on serological results, no specimen revealed to be mixed infection between L. infantum and L. tropica and were detected as L. infantum. Conclusion: The results revealed a prevalence of L. infantum infection in stray dogs in this region of Azerbaijan. This kind of information is needed for implementation of future control programs and both asymptomatic seropositive dogs should be considered as a risk.

کلیدواژه ها:

CVL ، DAT ، Dog ، Margheh ، Iran