Detection of Leishmania donovani status in dogs (Canis familiaris, Linnaeus, 1758) in the Karamoja sub-region of Uganda.

To date, the reservoir host for visceral leishmaniasis, a neglected tropical disease caused by Leishmania donovani , is unknown, although studies pointing to dogs, domestic animals, and rodents are emerging. We aimed to investigate whether the dog ( Canis familiaris , Linnaeus, 1758) is a potential reservoir for L . donovan i in the Karamoja sub-region of Uganda. Blood and lymph node aspirates were collected from dogs (n = 139) in disease endemic villages of Amudat and Moroto districts. An indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect anti- Leishmania IgG antibodies in serum. DNA extracted from lymph node aspirates was subjected to a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting the rRNA internal transcribed spacer region of Leishmania species. All sera from 139 dogs did not demonstrate any evidence of circulating antibodies against Leishmania , as optical density (OD) values were below 0.25. Similarly, all the dog lymph node DNAs (n = 139) were negative for Leishmania parasites. Although our results indicate that dogs may not be reservoirs for L . donovani , studies utilizing larger sample sizes are recommended. Furthermore, the presence of L . donovani in sand flies and other suspected reservoirs, such as domestic animals and wild rodents, needs to be investigated.