| Grant number: | 13/19821-4 |
| Support Opportunities: | Regular Research Grants |
| Start date: | February 01, 2014 |
| End date: | January 31, 2016 |
| Field of knowledge: | Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Preventive Veterinary Medicine |
| Principal Investigator: | Trícia Maria Ferreira de Sousa Oliveira |
| Grantee: | Trícia Maria Ferreira de Sousa Oliveira |
| Host Institution: | Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos (FZEA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Pirassununga , SP, Brazil |
| Associated researchers: | Helena Lage Ferreira |
Abstract
Canine visceral leishmaniasis is a severe zoonosis caused by Leishmania chagasi (syn.infantum). The life cycle of this parasite and transmission occurs primarily through the bite of the female vector, the dipteran Lutzomyia longipapis. Domestic dog is the main source of infection for the vector in the urban area, due to the high prevalence of the disease in this species and high degree of parasitism skin, facilitating vector infection. As consequence, dogs are the major targets of human disease control. The Ministry of Health adopts serological tests to positive animal's detection; however sensitivity and specificity of these tests are questionable. In the last decade molecular toolsproved to be great allies in the detection of leishmaniasis, and have high sensitivity and specificity. A variety of biological specimens may be used in these tests, such as blood and bone marrow aspirate.Conjunctival swab is an easy and practical alternative to obtain biological samples and are noninvasive. Recent work has tested conjunctival swab efficacy for leishmaniasis detection by PCR, and concluded that their use is of great value in diagnosis. With real-time PCR or quantitative PCR(qPCR) technology, is possible to increase PCR sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility. Besides, this technique, allows quantify the parasitic load in infected animal. In this project, the use of realtime PCR will be evaluated by comparing it with IFA and common PCR. It is hoped that comparing mentioned techniques, a more accurate and sensitive diagnostic test can be found, which can be safely used in epidemiological surveys to detect canine leishmaniasis (AU)
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