Epidemiology of Visceral Leishmaniasis in a Reemerging Focus of Intense Transmission in Minas Gerais State, Brazil

Abstract

This study was developed in the urban area of Governador Valadares, a reemerging focus of intense transmission of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in Brazil, presenting 86 human cases of VL from 2008 to 2011. The disease prevailed in males (73.2%) with most patients between 0 and 9 years (44.1%) and a lethality rate of 16.2%. A canine survey was carried out on 16,529 domestic dogs in 35 districts in the area and it showed that 30.2% of them (4,992 dogs) were positive for VL by serum assays. Prevalence ratios for canine VL varied between 13.6% and 53.4%. The clinical exam of 343 seropositive dogs showed that 49.9% of them were considered symptomatic, with larger prevalence of canine VL being in short-furred animals (90%). The entomological survey was performed in eight districts, where 2,539 phlebotomines were captured, preferentially in the peridomicile (84.5%). Lutzomyia longipalpis was the predominant species (90%) suggesting its participation in the VL transmission in the area. The correlation between canine prevalence and L. longipalpis density was evaluated.

Spatial and spatiotemporal occurrence of human visceral leishmaniasis in Adamantina, State of São Paulo, Brazil

“…In Adamantina, the age group of 0-4 years showed the highest incidence rate, which has been confi rmed in other studies (14) (15) (16) (17) . Immature cellular and humoral immunity constitutes a risk factor that makes children more susceptible to infection (15) .…”

Prevalence of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis in dogs in an endemic area of Brazil

“…Although, leishmaniasis has been historically considered a rural disease, over recent years, a gradual urbanization has been reported urbanization (7) , especially in some cities in the northeast region of Brazil, such as Teresina, Natal, and São Luis. Recently, a similar situation has been reported in the City of Governador Valadares (8) . In the previous study, a reemerging focus of ZVL has been attributed to this phenomenon (i.e., urbanization).…”

“…In general, the prevalence of ZVL in dogs varies widely in different areas of Brazil (8) (11) . In particular, the municipality of Petrolina is considered a hot spot for this disease.…”

Epidemiologia da leishmaniose visceral no município de Fortaleza, Ceará

“…No presente estudo, a correlação entre cães infectados e L. (L.) longipalpis foi moderadamente positiva (r= 0,4050), no entanto não foi estatisticamente significativa, fato já observado em outros estudos (Barata et al 2013, Silva et al 2014. Deste modo, a alta prevalência da infecção observada em cães pode sugerir outras rotas de transmissão do parasito como: transfusão sanguínea, rotas venéreas e mais recentemente estudada transmissão transplacentária (Rosyopal et al 2005, De Freitas et al 2006, Sil-va et al 2008a.…”