Molecular diagnosis of American Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (ACL) in dogs from an endemic area in Pernambuco State, Brazil

A survey was carried out to detect American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) among dogs in an area where a human outbreak had occurred in the state of Pernambuco, in northeastern Brazil. Domiciled dogs living in the district of Três Ladeiras, Igarassu were used in the present study. The following procedures were performed: The Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) (n = 126); the Immunofluorescence Antibody Test (IFAT) (n = 80); and a parasitological examination to detect amastigote forms of Leishmania sp. in skin lesions (n = 43). Associations between the infection in animals and the clinical and epidemiological factors were analyzed using Fisher's exact test or the Pearson’s chi-squared test. In total, 46.8% (59/126) of the samples tested were PCRpositive. Although a higher frequency of positivity was detected among males (46.3 %) and animals aged between 3 and 4 years (50.0 %), no significant associations were recorded for these variables (p> 0.05). Similarly, the clinical signs and aspects related to the environment in which the animal lives did not differ significantly, but differences were recorded for the variable locality. In the IFAT, only 6.2% (5/80) of the dogs were positive and no amastigote forms of Leishmania sp. were detected