Veterinary Parasitology 197 (2013) 649–652 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Veterinary Parasitology jo u r nal homep age: www.elsevier.com/locate/vetpar Short communication Longitudinal analysis of serological tests officially adopted by the Brazilian Ministry of Health for the diagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniasis in dogs vaccinated with Leishmune ® Mary Marcondes a,∗ , Valéria Marc ¸ al Félix de Lima a , Maria de Fátima Lereno de Araújo b , Roberto Mitsuyoshi Hiramoto b , José Eduardo Tolezano b , Rafael F.C. Vieira c , Alexander W. Biondo d,e a Department of Clinics, Surgery and Animal Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, São Paulo State University, Arac ¸ atuba, São Paulo 16050-680, Brazil b Department of Parasitology and Mycology, Instituto Adolfo Lutz, São Paulo 01246-000, Brazil c Department of Veterinary Sciences, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Areia, Paraíba 58397-000, Brazil d Department of Veterinary Medicine, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná 80035-050, Brazil e Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, University of Illinois, IL 61802, USA a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 19 February 2013 Received in revised form 3 July 2013 Accepted 9 July 2013 Keywords: Leishmania infantum ELISA IFAT DPP ® CVL rapid test a b s t r a c t Development of vaccines against canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) may provide a pro- phylactic barrier, but antibody response detected by standard diagnostic techniques may not separate vaccinated from naturally infected dogs. Moreover, anti-Leishmania antibody levels in vaccinated dogs may be detectable for months. Accordingly, the aim of the present study was to comparatively evaluate an “in-house” ELISA with three serological tests offi- cially adopted by the Brazilian Ministry of Health for the diagnosis of CVL in dogs vaccinated with Leishmune ® . A total of 18 mongrel dogs were submitted to a complete protocol of the vaccine, monitored and evaluated in 5 times (T0–T4) up to 180 days after T0. Twenty-one days after the first dose (T1), 50% of the dogs were seropositive by the “in-house” ELISA and 5.5% by IFAT, while by the official ELISA and DPP ® CVL rapid test all dogs tested negative. At time T2, 42 days after of the first dose, 100%, 83.3%, 11.1%, and 5.5% of the dogs were seropositive by the “in-house” ELISA, IFAT, official ELISA kit and the DPP ® CVL rapid test, respectively. Ninety days after the first dose (T3), 100%, 83.3%, 72.2% and 33.3% of the dogs were seropositive by the “in-house” ELISA, official ELISA kit, IFAT, and the DPP ® CVL rapid test, respectively. Finally, at time T4, 88.8%, 33.3%, 11.1% and 5.5% of the dogs were seropos- itive by the “in-house” ELISA, official ELISA kit, DPP ® CVL rapid test and IFAT, respectively. In conclusion, dogs vaccinated with Leishmune ® cross-react by an “in-house” ELISA and by the three official Brazilian serological tests for the diagnosis of canine visceral leishman- iasis up to six months after the first vaccine dose, and may be mistakenly diagnosed and removed. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. ∗ Corresponding author at: Departamento de Clínica, Cirurgia e Reproduc ¸ ão Animal, Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho”, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária de Arac ¸ atuba, Rua Clóvis Pes- tana, 793, Jardim Dona Amélia, Arac ¸ atuba, São Paulo 16050-680, Brazil. Tel.: +55 18 36361415; fax: +55 18 3636 1401. E-mail addresses: marcondes@fmva.unesp.br, marcondes.mary@gmail.com (M. Marcondes). 1. Introduction Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is an important re-emergent worldwide zoonosis caused by Leishmania infantum in Latin America with domestic dogs playing an important role as agent reservoirs (Dantas-Torres, 2009). The VL Brazilian control program have associated vector con- trol and human treatment to dog culling, following 0304-4017/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2013.07.013