Heishui county, located in northwest Sichuan province, southwestern China, is an endemic area of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and is the most intractable area. VL is never destroyed in it. Asymptomatic dogs (Leishmania parasites have been diagnosed but clinically healthy) are considered to be a potential reservoir host in zoonotic VL area, and most can lead to infection of individuals, that is a new challenge for controlling VL in humans. The present study aimed to assess the Leishmania infection rate of asymptomatic dogs in Heishui county. Total 105 asymptomatic domestic dogs were gathered from 4 districts in Heishui county to investigate the infection rate with serological and molecular methods based on ELISA and kinetoplast minicircle DNA(kDNA) PCR, respectively. Out of 105 dogs, 44 (41.9%) were positive by more than 1 method; 21 (20.0%) were positive by ELISA, and 30 (28.6%) were positive by kDNA-PCR. Our study showed that Leishmania infection of domestic dogs which is clinically healthy is prevalent in the studied district, and the asymptomatic dogs infected by Leishmania may be the primary reason for the prevalence of visceral leishmaniasis in the area.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Re-emergence of canine Leishmania infantum infection in mountain areas of Beijing Gang Liu, Yuanheng Wu, Lei Wang, Yang Liu, Wei Huang, Yifan Li, Mengbo Gao, John Kastelic, Herman Wildrik Barkema, Zhaofei Xia, Yipeng Jin One Health Advances.2023;[Epub] CrossRef
Spatio-temporal clustering of Mountain-type Zoonotic Visceral Leishmaniasis in China between 2015 and 2019 Yuwan Hao, Xiaokang Hu, Yanfeng Gong, Jingbo Xue, Zhengbin Zhou, Yuanyuan Li, Qiang Wang, Yi Zhang, Shizhu Li, Johan Van Weyenbergh PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.2021; 15(3): e0009152. CrossRef
Epidemiological features and spatial–temporal distribution of visceral leishmaniasis in mainland China: a population-based surveillance study from 2004 to 2019 Zhou Guan, Can Chen, Chenyang Huang, Hongwei Zhang, Yiyi Zhou, Yuqing Zhou, Jie Wu, Zhengbin Zhou, Shigui Yang, Lanjuan Li Parasites & Vectors.2021;[Epub] CrossRef
Improving the serodiagnosis of canine Leishmania infantum infection in geographical areas of Brazil with different disease prevalence Laura Ramírez, Luana Dias de Moura, Natalia Lopes Fontoura Mateus, Milene Hoehr de Moraes, Leopoldo Fabrício Marçal do Nascimento, Nailson de Jesus Melo, Lucas Bezerra Taketa, Tatiana Catecati, Samuel G. Huete, Karla Penichet, Eliane Mattos Piranda, Aless Parasite Epidemiology and Control.2020; 8: e00126. CrossRef
Visceral leishmaniasis: a global overview Richard G. Wamai, Jorja Kahn, Jamie McGloin, Galen Ziaggi Journal of Global Health Science.2020;[Epub] CrossRef
Leishmania infection and blood sources analysis in Phlebotomus chinensis (Diptera: Psychodidae) along extension region of the loess plateau, China Han-Ming Chen, Hui-Ying Chen, Feng Tao, Jing-Peng Gao, Kai-Li Li, Hua Shi, Heng Peng, Ya-Jun Ma Infectious Diseases of Poverty.2020;[Epub] CrossRef
Visceral leishmaniasis in northwest China from 2004 to 2018: a spatio-temporal analysis Canjun Zheng, Liping Wang, Yi Li, Xiao-Nong Zhou Infectious Diseases of Poverty.2020;[Epub] CrossRef
Recombinant prohibitin protein of Leishmania infantum acts as a vaccine candidate and diagnostic marker against visceral leishmaniasis Daniel S. Dias, Patrícia A.F. Ribeiro, Vívian T. Martins, Daniela P. Lage, Fernanda F. Ramos, Anna L.T. Dias, Marcella R. Rodrigues, Áquila S.B. Portela, Lourena E. Costa, Rachel B. Caligiorne, Bethina T. Steiner, Miguel A. Chávez-Fumagalli, Beatriz C.S. Cellular Immunology.2018; 323: 59. CrossRef
Changes in the concentration of anti-Leishmania antibodies in saliva of dogs with clinical leishmaniosis after short-term treatment Ana Cantos-Barreda, Damián Escribano, José J. Cerón, Fernando Tecles, Luis J. Bernal, Silvia Martínez-Subiela Veterinary Parasitology.2018; 254: 135. CrossRef
Leishmania infantum -specific IFN-γ production in stimulated blood from dogs with clinical leishmaniosis at diagnosis and during treatment Pamela Martínez-Orellana, Daniel Marí-Martorell, Sara Montserrat-Sangrà, Laura Ordeix, Gad Baneth, Laia Solano-Gallego Veterinary Parasitology.2017; 248: 39. CrossRef