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Canine Leishmaniasis: the disease

Canine Leishmaniasis is a vector disease caused by protozoas of the Leishmania genus, which affects dogs on all continents except Oceania. The aetiological agent of visceral and cutaneous Leishmaniasis in dogs and humans in countries in Southern Europe is Leishmania infantum (synonym Leishmania chagasi).

Canine Leishmaniasis occurs in approximately fifty countries in the world, with a particularly high prevalence in the Mediterranean region and in regions of South America. It is significant that the epidemic is spreading northwards in Europe and in America, where it has spread from Brazil to Argentina and some states in the middle and north east of the USA (Solano-Gallego et al, 2009, Petersen 2009, Maroli et al, 2008).