Detection of <i>Leishmania donovani</i> Status in Dogs ( <i>Canis familiaris,</i> Linnaeus, 1758) in the Karamoja Subregion of Uganda

To date, the reservoir host for visceral leishmaniasis, a neglected tropical disease caused by <i>Leishmania donovani</i>, is unknown, although studies pointing to dogs, domestic animals, and rodents are emerging. We aimed to investigate whether the dog (<i>Canis familiaris</i>, Linnaeus, 1758) is a potential reservoir for <i>L</i>. <i>donovan</i>i in the Karamoja subregion of Uganda. Blood and lymph node aspirates were purposively collected from dogs (<i>n</i> = 139) in disease endemic villages of Amudat and Moroto districts in August 2023. An indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect anti-<i>Leishmania</i> IgG antibodies in serum. DNA extracted from lymph node aspirates was subjected to a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting the rRNA internal transcribed spacer region of <i>Leishmania</i> species. The sera from 139 dogs did not demonstrate any evidence of circulating antibodies against <i>Leishmania</i>, as the optical density (OD) values were all below 0.25, lower than the threshold value of 0.45. Similarly, all the dog lymph node DNAs (<i>n</i> = 139) were negative for <i>Leishmania</i> parasites. Although our results found no evidence to support dogs as reservoirs for <i>L</i>. <i>donovani</i>, in this study, further research utilizing larger sample sizes is recommended to confirm this finding. Furthermore, the presence of <i>L</i>. <i>donovani</i> in sand flies and other suspected reservoirs, such as domestic animals and wild rodents, requires further investigation.