Clinical and dermatological findings associated with Leishmania spp. test-positivity in shelter dogs of Kastamonu, Black Sea region of Türkiye: an exploratory cross-sectional study.

Canine leishmaniosis (CanL) has a broad clinical spectrum, with cutaneous abnormalities among its most frequent manifestations. We characterised clinical and dermatological findings in 200 stray dogs admitted to the municipal shelter of Kastamonu, Türkiye, and explored associations with Leishmania test positivity, lymphadenopathy, age, sex, sampling month and geographic origin. Blood samples were examined by thin blood-smear microscopy and a lateral-flow serological rapid test. Nine dogs (4.5%) met the study's combined definition of test positivity. Above-normal body temperature, lymph-node abnormalities and skin abnormalities were recorded in 33.5%, 16% and 15% of dogs, respectively. Abnormal skin status was significantly associated with test positivity (microscopy p<0.001; combined positivity p=0.031, OR 5.08, 95% CI 1.28-20.15; Fisher exact tests), consistent with a rank-correlation analysis. All four microscopy-positive dogs had abnormal skin (4/30), whereas rapid/combined positivity occurred in 4/30 dogs with abnormal skin and 5/170 with healthy skin. Lymph-node status differed by sex in an exploratory Mann-Whitney analysis (U=4363.50; p=0.026). Skin-health ranks differed across recorded ages (Kruskal-Wallis χ²=31.797; df=10; p<0.001) and sampling months (χ²=13.541; df=5; p=0.019), but sparse older-age strata, uneven monthly sampling and an association between month and age limited inference. The data did not support a bimodal age distribution or an autumn-winter increase in skin abnormalities. Because diagnostic and lesion-specific confirmation were limited, these findings are interpreted as exploratory clinical associations and provide a baseline for molecularly confirmed prospective surveillance in the Black Sea region.