First report of visceral Leishmaniasis in abandoned dogs of the urban area in the central region of Colombia.

Abstract

Leishmaniasis is a significant zoonosis, with dogs serving as reservoirs and sand flies as vectors. This survey aimed to identify, for the first time, visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) in dogs in an urban shelter in the Andean region of Colombia. We sampled dogs at four longitudinal time points. We used the rKDDR-plus immunochromatographic test (ICT-rKDDR-plus) and the rKDDR-plus enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA-rKDDR-plus) for serological diagnosis. For PCR diagnosis, we used a real-time reaction to amplify the GAPDH gene, and a conventional reaction to amplify the RV1-RV2 genes to identify the Leishmania genus. We also used multiplex PCRs to amplify five genes from Leishmania species for genotyping. Seropositivity in both tests showed 25.3% and 37.5% in dogs from the first and second collections, respectively. These animals also presented clinical and laboratory findings consistent with visceral Leishmaniasis (VL). Following GAPDH gene RT-PCR, we confirmed the amplification of 20 samples, and two samples tested positive for Leishmania spp. using the RV1-RV2 PCR method, the same samples tested positive for L. infantum using multiplex genotyping PCR. The product of the RV1-RV2 PCR exhibited 99.0% similarity to L. infantum following sequencing. These results suggest the presence of VL diagnoses, as determined by serology and PCR methods, in urban areas of the Andean region of Colombia.