No abstract

The main aim of present study was to determine the sero-prevalence of canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) among stray and owner shepherd dogs in Hamedan province, West of Iran. A cross-sectional study was performed in 2013 using enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay (ELISA). Blood samples (n = 380) were collected randomly from 170 stray and 210 owner shepherd dogs in different regions of Hamedan province. All of animals were asymptomatic. Antibodies to Leishmania infantum were found 3.95 % (0.95 CI: 2-5.9 %). The sero-prevalence rate of infection in stray dogs (6.47 %) was reported higher than owner shepherd dogs (1.9 %) (P = 0.023). There was significant differences among age groups (P = 0.003); unlike to different gender (P = 0.11). This is the first report of CVL in western Iran. Further comprehensive studies in infection rate and predominant Leishmania species in humans, sand flies and animals hosts (wild canines and rodents) is recommended in this region.

Dogs exposed to zoonotic parasites (e.g., Leishmania spp., Toxoplasma gondii, Toxocara spp., Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato) represent a threat to public health (1). Moreover, some dog-associated pathogens (e.g. Neospora caninum and Taenia spp.) may frequently infect livestock and cause economic losses due to fatality, abortions, and spoilage of meat and other edible tissues (2).Neospora caninum (Apicomplexa: Sarcocystidae) is an intracellular heterogeneous parasite with cosmopolitan distribution (3). Canines (domestic dogs, coyotes, dingoes, and gray wolves) and a wide range of herbivore animals are definitive and intermediate hosts, respectively (3). In most cases, dogs are without clinical signs of neosporosis; however, the common signs in dogs are neuropathic disorders dependent on the site parasitized ranging from paresis to paralysis, muscle flaccidity, muscle atrophy, and heart failure (4). Stray dogs play an important role in the transmission of diseases to herbivore animals. They especially cause abortions in cattle. Therefore, knowledge on the prevalence and risk factors of neosporosis in dogs is very valuable for the development and implementation of control programs in livestock of the region (5). Moreover, evaluation of the infection rate in definitive hosts and analysis of the risks in different regions is of further value (5).Toxoplasma gondii, another important zoonotic parasite, that infects a wide range of warm-and cold-blooded animals, has a global prevalence (6). Approximately, onethird of general human populations are seropositive for toxoplasmosis (7). Dogs rarely suffer from toxoplasmosis as a primary disease; however, neurological disorders are the predominant indications in ill dogs, with signs of seizures, cranial nerve deficits, tremors, ataxia, paralysis, encephalomyelitis, choroidoretinitis, optic nerve neuritis, hepatitis, keratoconjunctivitis, and orchitis (8). T. gondii does not undergo the sexual reproductive cycle in dogs, and the animals are not consumed as food widely, but they can be involved in the mechanical transmission of T. gondii to humans (9).Several laboratory methods including bioassay, histopathology, immuno-serology, and molecular procedures are applied for the detection of neosporosis and toxoplasmosis in animals from which, serological