Canine Leishmaniasis: Update on Epidemiology, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention

Simple Summary Dogs are the main host of Leishmania infantum, a parasite that causes an incurable disease called canine leishmaniasis. This parasite is transmitted through the bite of a sandfly (a small insect related to mosquitoes and flies) in tropical and subtropical countries, but direct transmission between dogs, and from pregnant dogs to their puppies, exists. We reviewed the advances in tools and techniques for the surveillance of the disease, its diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. Canine leishmaniasis is expanding to the Northern Hemisphere, where it is barely known, due to climate change and the importation of dogs. Surveillance is therefore necessary in order to determine the extent of the disease in these areas and to monitor the appearance of the sandflies. Molecular techniques and rapid serological tests are now widespread for diagnosis and epidemiological studies. Several vaccines have been developed in the last decade, and even though their efficacy is limited, these advances will pave the way for the development of better vaccines against Leishmania and other parasites. Although new pharmacological tools are available, we are still waiting for the ideal drug that can eliminate the parasite from target organs and limit transmission to sandflies, without the side effects of current antileishmanials. Dog are the main reservoir of Leishmania infantum, causing canine leishmaniasis, an incurable multisystemic disease that leads to death in symptomatic dogs, when not treated. This parasite causes visceral, cutaneous, and mucosal leishmaniasis in people in the Mediterranean Basin, North Africa, South America, and West Asia. This disease is mostly unknown by veterinarians outside the endemic areas, but the disease is expanding in the Northern Hemisphere due to travel and climate change. New methodologies to study the epidemiology of the disease have found new hosts of leishmaniasis and drawn a completely new picture of the parasite biological cycle. Canine leishmaniasis diagnosis has evolved over the years through the analysis of new samples using novel molecular techniques. Given the neglected nature of leishmaniasis, progress in drug discovery is slow, and the few drugs that reach clinical stages in humans are unlikely to be commercialised for dogs, but several approaches have been developed to support chemotherapy. New-generation vaccines developed during the last decade are now widely used, along with novel prevention strategies. The implications of the epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of canine leishmaniasis are fundamental to public health.

Automated summary

Dogs are the main host of Leishmania infantum, which causes canine leishmaniasis, a disease that is incurable and transmitted through the bite of sandflies. Advances in molecular techniques and vaccines have been made for diagnosis and prevention, although the development of an ideal drug to eliminate the parasite is still awaited. Public health implications of the disease are fundamental.