Leishmaniose visceral canina: relato de caso

Abstract

Leishmaniasis is an important infectious-parasitic zoonosis, caused by protozoa of the genus Leishmania, being included among the six endemics of major relevance worldwide and which transmition occurred through the bite of phlebotomine insects belonging to the genera Lutzomyia (New World) and Phlebotomus (Old World). In enzootic areas, laboratory diagnosis (such as parasitological, serological, histopathological and molecular exams) is performed to confirm canine visceral leishmaniasis in both cases: diseased and asymptomatic animals). Since 2016, the treatment of canine visceral leishmaniasis in Brazil is allowed from the miltefosine principle, under the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply registry as Milteforan™. Allopurinol and marbofloxacin are drugs that are additionally available for leishmaniosis treatment. Given the importance of this disease to canine and human health, as well as the increasing casuistry of it in dogs in clinics and veterinary hospitals scattered throughout the country, the objective of this work was to report the case of canine visceral leishmaniasis attended in the Veterinary Hospital of University of Brasilia, in order to provide clarification on the epidemiological, clinical and therapeutic aspects of this affection. The two-year-old female dog, weighing 13 kg, was brought on April 27th, 2017 to the hospital with muzzle wounds as its complaint. There were other four clinical consultations subsequent to the initial one, whose suspicions included, visceral leishmaniasis, discoid erythematosus lupus, fungal dermatitis and demodicosis. However, the confirmation of the diagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniasis was achieved only after the immunohistochemical examination. The therapeutic course was based on monotherapy of allopurinol, which demonstrated satisfactory results regarding remission of clinical signs. Additional preventive measures were employed to minimize the risks to public health.