Avaliação da prevalência do calazar em raposas (Cerdocyon thous) e cães (canis lupus familiaris) provenientes do Município de João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brasil.

Abstract

Visceral leishmaniasis is a zoonosis whose main reservoirs are the dog, the fox and the opossum. The prevalence in dogs has increased in the last years. Moreover, the role of foxes in the epidemiological cycle is still controversial. This study was developed to determine the prevalence of leishmaniasis among dogs from the Center for Zoonosis Control (CCZ) and foxes captured by the Center for Screening of Wild Animals (CETAS-IBAMA/PB), as well as those kept in captivity at the Arruda Camara Zoobotanical Park, all three institutions located in Joao Pessoa, Paraiba, Brazil. An amount of 13 foxes and 113 dogs were tested by ELISA S7, a commercial recombinant diagnostic assay based on a fragment of Leishmania chagasi HSP70. Canine prevalence was 19.65%. Nine foxes caught by CETAS were serologically negative. Four foxes from the Zoobotanical Park, since held in captivity, were tested twice and two of them had an apparent seroconversion in the second serology. 12 dogs (57.17%) had at least one clinical sign from visceral leishmaniasis. 86.98% animals were mongrels, 12 (52.1%) and 11 (47.1%) were females and males, respectively. In relation to neighborhood prevalence, there is a tendency for a higher occurrence in the southeast region of the city. As the leishmaniasis prevalence in dogs from CCZ is high and as small animal veterinarians have reported the increasing number of positive dogs, associated to the fact that synanthropic foxes are increasingly found in Joao Pessoa, epidemiological studies are needed to establish the current status of the disease distribution in the city and the influence of wild animals in the biological cycle