Feline leishmaniasis due to Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis in Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil Alda Izabel de Souza a, * , Eva ˆnia Marcia Silva Barros b , Edna Ishikawa c , Ie ˆda Maria Novaes Ilha d , Glaucia Rosely Barbosa Marin d , Va ˆnia Lu ´cia Branda ˜o Nunes e a Curso de Medicina Veterina ´ria, Centro de Cie ˆncias Biolo ´gicas, Agra ´rias e da Sau ´de (CCBAS),Universidade para o Desenvolvimento do Estado e da Regia ˜o do Pantanal (UNIDERP), rua Alexandre Herculano 1400, 79037-280 Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil b Hospital Veterina ´rio, CCBAS/UNIDERP, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil c Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto Evandro Chagas, Bele ´m, Para ´, Brazil d Curso de Cie ˆncias Biolo ´gicas, CCBAS/UNIDERP, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil e Curso de Farma ´cia, CCBAS/UNIDERP, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil Accepted 4 November 2004 Abstract A case of leishmaniasis in a domestic cat (Felis domesticus) is described. The animal showed a single, nodular lesion on the nose and many nodules of different size on the ears and digital regions of all the paws. Diagnosis was made by microscopic detection of amastigotes in Giemsa-stained smears from the lesions. By monoclonal antibodies the aetiological agent was identified as Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis, one of the seven species implicated in human leishmaniasis in Brazil. The clinical signs in feline leishmaniasis are unspecific and similar to those observed in other diseases such as cryptococcosis and in sporotrichosis, commonly found in cats. Leishmaniasis should therefore, be added to the differential diagnosis by feline veterinary practitioners and adequate investigations should carried out for dermal leishmaniasis in the area where the feline infection is detected. # 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Cat; Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis; Nodular dermatitis; Mato Grosso do Sul State; Brazil 1. Introduction Dermal leishmaniasis has been reported in humans in almost all States of Brazil. There are at present seven recognised species of Leishmania responsible for the cutaneous disease in Brazil, namely: Leishma- www.elsevier.com/locate/vetpar Veterinary Parasitology 128 (2005) 41–45 * Corresponding author. Present address: Travessa Nestor Moreira no. 38 Bairro Sa ˜o Bento, 79004-100 Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. E-mail address: alda@nin.ufms.br (A.I. de Souza). 0304-4017/$ – see front matter # 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2004.11.020