Imported Leishmaniasis in Dogs, US Military Bases, Japan | CDC EID

EID Journal Home > Volume 16, Number 12–December 2010

Volume 16, Number 12–December 2010
Letter
Imported Leishmaniasis in Dogs, US Military Bases, Japan
Yuta Kawamura, Isao Yoshikawa, and Ken Katakura
Author affiliations: Hokkaido University Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan (Y. Kawamura, K. Katakura); and US Army Japan District Veterinary Command–Zama Branch Kangawa, Japan (I. Yoshikawa)

Suggested citation for this article

To the Editor: Leishmaniasis is found in canids in ≈50 of the 88 countries where leishmaniases are found in humans (1). In Japan, 2 cases of imported canine leishmaniasis have been documented in dogs from Spain (2,3). We report 2 cases of leishmaniasis in dogs in which dermatitis developed mainly on the face. Leishmaniasis was diagnosed from results of a serologic rk39 test, followed by PCR of skin lesion specimens for the Leishmania spp.–specific small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene. Because the dogs had lived on a US military base in Sicily, Italy, for 3 years before their owners were transfered to Japan, the animals were likely infected with L. infantum in Italy.

Animal 1 was a 6-year-old female dog that had lived in Sicily for 3 years, since 2003, and had been brought to Japan in September 2006. While she lived in Italy, she had exhibited alopecic, pruritic, and crusty skin lesions, mainly around the face and on the forearms and hind legs.

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Imported Leishmaniasis in Dogs, US Military Bases, Japan | CDC EID


Suggested Citation for this Article
Kawamura Y, Yoshikawa I, Katakura K. Imported leishmaniasis in dogs, US Military bases, Japan [letter]. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2010 Dec [date cited]. http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/16/12/2017.htm

DOI: 10.3201/eid1612.100389


Comments to the Authors
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Ken Katakura, Laboratory of Parasitology, Department of Disease Control, Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Kita 18 Nishi 9, Kita-ku Sapporo 060-0818, Hokkaido, Japan; email: kenkata@vetmed.hokudai.ac.jp