CANINE LEISHMANIOSIS (LEISHMANIA INFANTUM) IN SLOVENIA: A QUESTIONNAIRE-BASED SURVEY

Leishmaniosis is a disease caused by different species of a protozoan parasite of the genus Leishmania but the most common and broadly studied in dogs is the infection with the species Leishmania infantum, which is also transmissible to humans. The primary objective of this study was to obtain an epidemiological estimate on canine leishmaniosis in Slovenia during the period from 2005 to 2010. Questionnaires were sent to 105 slovenian veterinary practices, 49 responded and amongst them, 42 (85,7 %) didn't diagnose a case of leishmaniosis in a dog in the past five years. Slovenian veterinarians observed, that the canine leishmaniosis case numbers were descending or at least stagnating during the estimated period. All dogs, diagnosed to have leishmaniosis, were imported from endemic regions, mostly from Spain and France and occasionally from Portugal, Italy, Croatia and Africa. Constantly to frequently skin lesions, such as alopecia, exfoliative dermatitis, ulcers, nodules, pyoderma, lesions on the bridge of the nose (depigmentation, ulcers) and lesions on footpads (excessive nail growth, hyperkeratosis, ulcers) were observed. Eye and eyelid lesions like periocular alopecia, nodules at the edge of the eyelid, conjunctivitis and uveitis and beside these, non-dermatological signs such as apathy, elevated body temperature, anaemia, weight loss and diarrhea were frequently observed. One third of Slovenian veterinary practices had euthanized their cases in spite of the treatment and they have decided for euthanasia most often because of chronic renal failure (CRF) and zoonotic potential. Results of this survey showed that at least until 2010, Slovenia cannot be considered as an enzootic area. However an increase of travelling Slovenian dogs to the other Mediterranean countries may result in an increase of the probability of the diagnosis on imported cases. Utilization of diagnostic tests such as IFAT and PCR on a broad population of healthy and diseased dogs, together with vector analysis is proposed for the future studies.