Abstract

Introduction:

This study was conducted to detect asymptomatic cases of visceral leishmaniasis in human and dog, using PCR and serology methods in Darab, Fars Province.

Material and Methods:

In this descriptive cross-sectional survey, blood samples were randomly collected from all children aged 10 years old; 10% of the adults and 20% of the dog owners were investigated. To determine the prevalence of infection rate of VL, direct agglutination tests (DAT) and PCR-based assays were applied. In addition, to identify the species of the parasite, the species-specific PCR on blood samples was used.

Results:

Of the 376 subjects investigated, 355 were children 10 years old and 21 subjects were adults. Overall, 5 (1.33%) subjects (2 males and 3 females) were found seropositive; they were aged 2-5 years. Of 23 dog samples, one case (4.3%) showed specific Leishmania antibodies equal to 1: 320 titer. Also, overall, 32 (8.5%) subjects and five dogs (21.7%) were found PCR-positive in the Leishmania KDNA- specific PCR and L.infantum was detected in all the samples.

Conclusion:

The results showed that PCR on blood with RV1 and RV2 primers is a valuable method for early diagnosis of VL in human and detection of asymptomatic cases especially in endemic regions.