Case report of canine visceral leishmaniasis in Concordia city, Argentina.

SÁNCHEZ, R. O.; BOERO, C. A.; EIRAS, D.F.; MORÉ, G.; IRIGOYEN, D.; HORTA, S.; BANETH, G

Buenos Aires

Congreso; The 23rd International Conference of the World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology (WAAVP 2011); 2011

WAAVP

Visceral leishmaniasis is a worldwide zoonotic disease in which wild and domestic mammals act as important hosts. In South America it is caused by the protozoan Leishmania chagasi (syn. L. infantum), and  the sand fly Lutzomyia longipalpis is the arthropod vector responsible for transmission. Dogs are considered the main domestic reservoir of the parasite in urban or suburban areas, constituting part of the epidemiology of the human disease. Also, clinical signs in dogs may vary from no clinical manifestation to a severe life threatening disease. During the last years, the northeast of Argentina (especially Misiones province) became an endemic area with severe cases of canine visceral leishmaniasis (CanL). Also, canine infection has been presented in some localities near Concordia (Northern Entre Ríos) and vector presence has reported in this province recently. We describe a natural case of CanL in a 4 year old mixed-breed female dog raised in Concordia, Entre Rios, Argentina. The dog was adopted as a puppy from a suburban area of Concordia and the owners reported no history of travel to other cities. The animal presented clinical signs compatible with CanL: weight lost, forelimb skin ulceration, epistaxis, alopecia, exfoliative dermatitis, conjunctivitis, uveitis and onychogryphosis. Blood serum analysis revealed elevated total protein with hypoalbuminemia, hyperglobulinemia and a markedly lowered A-G ratio. Serology using an rK39 Immunochromatographic strip test was positive. Cytological analysis of the lymph node and bone marrow puncture smears revealed low amount of Leishmania  amastigotes. Following natural death, the dog underwent necropsy. No important gross lesion was observed except for mild hepatomegaly and cachexia. The ITS1-PCR from bone marrow and a mix of spleen, bone marrow and liver DNA samples were positive for Leishmania spp. Sequencing and BLAST analysis showed  that infection was caused by L. chagasi. Considering the present report of natural infection with L. chagasi (L. infantum) from an area where suitable conditions could exist, CanL should be considered a potential emerging infectious disease in Concordia. It is important to establish surveillance and control programs in order to reduce the spread of visceral leishmaniasis in Argentina.