Epidemiologia da leishmaniose canina em cães de um abrigo no município de Lavras, Minas Gerais

Abstract

Canine leishmaniasis (CanL) is a serious parasitic and zoonotic disease, which has been described in at least 98 countries around the world, whose agents are the protozoa of the genus Leishmania, mainly L. infantum, which are transmitted by arthropods sand flies of the genera Phlebotomus and Lutzomyia. The disease has clinical forms that can be typified by its numerous clinical signs, including cutaneous and visceral signs. In South America, the number of infected dogs is estimated in millions, and there are high rates of infection, especially in Brazil, where a high prevalence of canine infection is associated with a high risk of the disease in humans. Research works in the state of Minas Gerais have shown a prevalence of almost 25%; however, determining an actual prevalence is difficult. As it is a zoonotic disease, research works in the city of Lavras are needed to determine the prevalence in dogs, which are sentinels for the human disease and natural reservoirs of Leishmania spp. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors for Leishmania spp. in blood samples from dogs from a shelter in the city of Lavras, Minas Gerais. In this study, an epidemiological census was carried out on 324 dogs in the Francisco de Assis Park, in June and July 2019. Eighteen positive animals were found, which is equivalent to a prevalence rate of [5.56% (95% CI: 3.33 to 8.64%] of CanVL, with risk factors for infection by Leishmania spp. the observation of low values of red blood cells and hemoglobins in the blood count. The low prevalence rate compared to that presented elsewhere may be the result both of the action of the Surveillance and Epidemiological Control against phlebotomies in the municipality of Lavras, as well as of the cleaning carried out by the same shelter; on the other hand, the high usefulness of the blood count for the suspicion of the disease was evidenced, since the hematological alterations associated with the presence of the parasite were observed even in animals without classic clinical signs of the disease.