A Case Report of Typical Leishmaniasis in Dog

Leishmania spp. are vector-borne flagellates that are transferred by sand flies. These blood parasites cause cutaneous, mucocutaneous and visceral infections in a variety of mammals, especially in humans and dogs. Species infecting dogs include Leishmaniainfontum, L. Chagasi, L. Tropica, L. major and L. braziliensis.Symptoms in dogs include fatigue, anorexia, weight loss, lymphadenopathy, alopecia and non-itching exfoliative dermatitis especially on face, ears and legs. A mature male boxer with ulcerative nodules around his eyes and snout was referred to Small Animal Hospital, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran. Mild leukocytosis, neutrophilia, left shift, lymphopenia and thrombocytopenia were reported by the laboratory. Diagnosis was confirmed by direct observation of Giemsa-stained amastigotes in peripheral blood samples and tissue macrophages, which is the gold standard diagnostic technique in leishmaniasis. Infection was cured by using pentavalent antimonial drugfor four weeks.