Seroepidemiology of Leishmania among Healthy Dogs in Bulgaria

Authors: ILIA TSACHEV, EMMANOUIL I. PAPADOGIANNAKIS, VASILIS KONTOS, ANDREI IVANOV, BORISLAVA CHAKAROVA, KRASIMIR STOJANCHEV, RAIKO PESHEV

Abstract: A seroepidemiological study of canine leishmaniasis was carried out in 220 healthy pet dogs from 11 different regions in Bulgaria allocated in 5 regions in southern Bulgaria: Plovdiv (n = 20), Stara Zagora (n = 20), Yambol (n = 20), Burgas (n = 20), and Blagoevgrad (n = 20), and 6 regions in northern Bulgaria: Varna (n = 20), Silistra (n = 20), Rousse (n = 20), Veliko Tarnovo (n = 20), Pleven (n = 20), and Montana (n = 20). The indirect fluorescent antibody test was used. All blood sera examined yielded negative results for leishmaniasis, thus suggesting that healthy household dogs in Bulgaria are not infected by Leishmania.

Keywords: Dog, Leishmania, Bulgaria, IFA test

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