[Human and canine visceral leishmaniasis in the Papsky District, Namangan Region, Uzbekistan: seroepidemiological and seroepizootological surveys].

In 2007 - 2008, four (Chodak, Oltinkan, Gulistan, and Chorkesar) of 9 population aggregates in the Papsky District, Namangan Region, Uzbekistan, where visceral leishmaniasis (VL) cases had been registered in the last years were selected to make seroepidemiological and seroepizootological surveys within the international project funded by INTAS grant 05-100006-8043. The surveys of the populations were conducted visiting their homesteads. These additionally included children's and health care facilities where all children aged less than 14 years were examined. On examining the children, their peripheral blood (approximately 0.1 ml) was taken on filter paper for serological assays. Canine blood was sampled from the vein. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was carried out to detect antibodies to VL pathogens. A total of 521 children were examined for two years, by applying ELISA. Five hundred and fourteen blood samples from children younger than 14 years, 162 dogs, 4 foxes, and 1 cat were tested. Testing 514 children's blood samples for VL pathogen antigen ascertained that in the 4 population aggregates there was an average of 10% VL-seropositive children, including those who were ill with VL at the moment of the examination and had been ill. The highest number of VL-seropositive samples (14.9%) was found in the settlement of Chodak. VL pathogen antibodies were detected in 26 (61.9%) of 42 dogs with the clinical signs of VL. VL-positive tests were found in 26 (21.6%) of 120 apparently healthy dogs. The samples from 4 foxes and 1 cat were negative. Immunological findings indicated that 0-3-year-old children were a group that is most susceptible to VL in the study focus of this disease. The high proportion of dogs with VL may account for the rise in infant morbidity and suggests the epizootic strain in the focus of VL in the Papsky District.