Dogs as Reservoirs for <i>Leishmania donovani</i>, Bihar, India, 2018–2022
Visceral leishmaniasis derived from Leishmania donovani is transmitted by sand flies (Phlebotomus argentipes) throughout the Indian subcontinent. Although considered anthroponotic, L. donovani infects other mammals susceptible to sand fly bites, including dogs. Aggressive strategies to reduce sand fly populations in India have led to flies seeking nonhuman hosts, so understanding the role of dogs in L. donovani transmission has become critical. Our study investigated L. donovani infection in dogs and the potential for such infections to be transmitted back to sand flies. We performed xenodiagnosis by using P. argentipes on dogs (n = 73) with quantitative PCR-detectible parasitemia in both endemic and outbreak villages. We found that 12% (9/73) of dogs were infectious to sand flies during winter and rainy seasons. Patients with visceral leishmaniasis remain primary sources of L. donovani transmission, but our findings suggest a possible link between canine infection and human exposure.
Authors
- Gætano Oliva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2949-5479)
- Anurag Kumar Kushwaha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5558-0204)
- Shyam Sundar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2956-8412)
- Phillip G. Lawyer
- Breanna M. Scorza (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3489-0270)
- Christine A. Petersen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7285-4254)
- Puja Tiwary (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8180-2739)
- Sangeeta Yaduvanshi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2018-2847)
- Ashish Shukla (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1385-4497)
- Scott A. Bernhardt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9138-8404)
- Rajiv Kumar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2338-1494)
- Epke A. Le Rutte (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7450-543X)
- Shweta Srivastava (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3922-0070)
- Rahul Chaubey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5322-4997)
- Om Prakash Singh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2146-8107)
- Shakti Kumar Singh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5314-660X)
- Dharmendra Kumar Maurya (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1430-2611)
- Edgar Rowton
- Tulika Kumari
Publication Details
- Journal
- Emerging infectious diseases
- Published
- 2024-11-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3201/eid3012.240649
- Citations
- 9
- Primary Topic
- Research on Leishmaniasis Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 4.89
Funders
- Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, India
- Banaras Hindu University
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases