471 July 2025. Volume 19. Number 3 Ali Heydari 1 , Hamidreza Shokrani 2* , Alireza Rocky 1 1. Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Lorestan University, Khorramabad, Iran. 2. Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Lorestan University, Khorramabad, Iran. * Corresponding Author: Hamidreza Shokrani, Associate Professor. Address: Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Lorestan University, Khorramabad, Iran. Phone: +98 (66) 33120109 E-mail: shokrani.hm@lu.ac.ir Original Article Visceral Leishmaniasis in Stray Dogs From Kermanshah Area, Iran: Seroprevalence and Association With Clinical and Hematological Alterations Background: Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is responsible for mortality, especially among children in developing countries. Stray dogs are a reservoir for VL infections, and asymptomatic infected dogs can act as a source of human infection. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the seroprevalence of VL in stray dogs from the Kermanshah area and to evaluate the clinical and hematological alterations in dogs naturally infected with Leishmania infantum. Methods: Ninety-two stray dogs aged 1-8 years were sampled. Serum samples were evaluated for anti-L. infantum antibodies using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). All positive samples were titrated using the direct agglutination test (DAT). Results: Eleven dogs (11.95%) were infected with L. infantum. Only four (36.36%) showed clinical signs among the seropositive dogs. Three infected patients had anemia, while two had hemoconcentration. According to the blood count, most alterations were observed in the mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), band neutrophils, and lymphocytes. Conclusion: The high frequency of asymptomatic dogs indicates that these reservoirs must be considered the principal source of VL infection in this area. Frequent surveillance and monitoring of canine VL (CVL) is critical to decrease the disease incidence in humans, especially in stray dogs. Keywords: Complete blood count (CBC), Clinical signs, Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), Leishmania infantum, Stray dogs A B S T R A C T How to Cite This Article Heydari, A., Shokrani, H., & Rocky, A. (2025). Visceral Leishmaniasis in Stray Dogs From Ker- manshah Area, Iran: Seroprevalence and Association With Clinical and Hematological Alterations. Iranian Journal of Veterinary Medicine, 19(3), 471-478. http://dx.doi.org/10.32598/ijvm.19.3.1005526 http://dx.doi.org/10.32598/ijvm.19.3.1005526 Use your device to scan and read the arcle online Article info: Received: 21 Apr 2024 Accepted: 15 June 2024 Available Online: 01 Jul 2025 Copyright © 2025 The Author(s); This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-By-NC: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode.en), which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.