High seroprevalence and associated factors for visceral leishmaniasis in dogs in a transmission area of Paraíba state, Northeastern Brazil.

Dogs have been implicated as main reservoirs for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in urban areas. Therefore, studies on this species provide important data for public health. Thus, the objective of the present study was to ascertain the seroprevalence of canine VL (CVL) and the associated factors in the Brejo Paraibano microregion, northeastern Brazil. A total of 409 dogs were sampled from the eight municipalities of the microregion: Alagoa Grande, Alagoa Nova, Areia, Bananeiras, Borborema, Matinhas, Pilões and Serraria. The diagnosis of CVL was made using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA S7®), through which the prevalence observed was 29.3%. By robust Poisson regression analysis two factors were associated with seroprevalence: illiterate/incomplete elementary owner's education level (prevalence ratio = 1.57; 95% CI = 1.05-2.34; p-value = 0.027) and tick infestation (prevalence ratio = 1.82; 95% CI = 1.27-2.61; p-value = 0.001). It is concluded that the seroprevalence of CVL in the Brejo Paraibano microregion is high. The factors associated with seroprevalence indicated the importance to develop socioeducational actions on the population, and the finding that tick infestation was associated with seroprevalence shows that there is a need for investigation regarding the role of ticks in the epidemiology of CVL.