Seroprevalence of Visceral Leishmaniosis in Stray Dogs of Hamedan, West of Iran in 2018

Introduction: Canine zoonotic visceral leishmaniosis (VL) caused by Leishmania infantum has been reported from 20 out of 31 provinces in Iran. In 2013, 3.95% of dogs in Hamedan Province showed antiL. infantum antibodies by indirect ELISA method. In 2018, we reevaluated L. infantum infection among stray dogs in the same region. Methods: From June to November 2018, blood sera from 180 stray dogs in Hamedan and the outskirts were examined for the presence of antiL. infantum antibodies using the same ELISA kit employed in the previous study. Results: The ELISA detected antiL. infantum antibodies in blood sera of 19 dogs (10.56%, 95% CI: 6.18 -14.94). Infected dogs were significantly older than noninfected dogs (p=0.048) with an odds ratio of 1.02 (p=0.02) between age and infection, implying that the odds of infection increased 2% with each month of age. Seropositivity rate was 11.21% in females and 11.11% in males with no significant difference between the two sexes (p=1). The odds of infection in female dogs were 1.01 compared to that in males. Conclusion: The seroprevalence rate of L. infantum infection in stray dogs in this study showed an increase compared with 2013 (10.55% vs. 3.95%). An increase in antibodies against L. infantum in dogs of Hamedan and the presence of competent vectors for transmission of the parasite in the region makes the transmission of VL possible. Further PCRbased studies are required to confirm the infection in the infected dogs in sand flies.