STUDIO TRASVERSALE E LONGITUDINALE DELLO STATO ANEMICO IN CANI AFFETTI DA LEISHMANIOSI

Leishmaniasis is an infectious disease caused by protozoa L. infantum. It is a dangerous zoonosis transmitted by phlebotomine sandfly and the dog is the main reservoir of visceral human form of the disease. Leishamniasis is widespread in the the world and particularly is endemic in Italy. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the anemic status associated to the L. infantum infection. Particularly two groups of dogs were examined. Regarding the group A was conducted a cross-sectional study on 222 dogs before the year 2010. Regarding the group B was conducted a prospective study on 111 dogs from year 2009 until today in order to investigate the progression of infection. Our results show that the most of dogs included in the cross-sectional study group A showed a hyporigenerative normocytic normochromic anemia, while in the prospective study the anemic status progressively worsen with the progression of the disease.