SINDH UNIVERSITY RESEARCH JOURNAL (SCIENCE SERIES) Histo-pathological Detection of Leishmaniasis in Dogs Tissue M. H. QURESHI, A. G. ARIJO*, M. I. QURESHI, A. SETHAR**, A. B. KACHIWA ++ *, G. H. SETHAR*** N. A. KHAN**** Central Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory Research & Diagnosis (CVDL) Vaccine Production Unit Tandojam, Government of Sindh Pakistan Received 17 th November 2015 and Revised 12 rd December 2016 . 1. INTRODUCTION Cutaneous Leishmaniasis represents a major public health problem. It is one of the highly significant zoonotic parasite but very neglected disease in animals as for research is concerned. The infection is caused by more than 25 species of obligatory intracellular protozoans belonging to the genus Leishmania (Aneela et al., 2011). First time in Pakistan Cutaneous Leishmaniasis was reported in Afghan refugee’s living in camps and Balouches living in 19 neighboring villages of refugee’s in Baluchistan, Pakistan, (Brooker et al., 2004). The disease has great importance in veterinary and medical sciences. The vector of the disease is female sandfly which transmit the infection to a susceptible host through the bite (Torres, 2006 and Shakila et al., 2006. Cutaneous Leishmaniasis menace 12 million peoples and 350 million peoples are at risk in 88 countries including Pakistan around the world. It is estimated that one tenth of the population of world is at risk of this infection (Brooker et al., 2004). Cutaneous Leishmaniasis showed variety of clinical signs and has severe socio-economic consequences (W.H.O 2007). The disease is frequently reported in people and Dogs. However, in human male more intensity of disease and infection rate was reported as compared to females (Weigle et al., 1994). The present study was designed to assess the infection rate of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis infection in dogs in few districts of Sindh, Pakistan. The present study was focused on (a) Disease status of Leishmaniasis in dogs of in few districts of Sindh and (b) Histopathology of suspected Leishmaniasis cases. 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS Study Area: Sampling were collected from Dadu, Hyderabad and Jamshoro districts of Sindh Province, Pakistan. Source and Collection of Tissue Samples: The tissue samples were collected from face, eyes, ears, muzzle, brisket and legs of the Leishmaniasis affected dogs during entire study period. Sample Size: Tissue samples of 3-7 micron in thickness were collected from ulcerative area’s washed thoroughly with 70 percent alcohol of forty five (45) Leishmaniasis suspected dogs. The tissue samples were , Bijou bottles that containing 3-5 ml of 70 percent alcohol to keep tissue for further processing. Procedure: The patient was comfortably restraint manually on the ground. Initially, the lesion was marked for the tissue specimen collection and then xylocaine, 2%, (2ml) was infiltrated around the lesion. Tissue sample by cutting with sterile scalpel blade was collected from infected area after 2-3 minutes of administration of xylocaine. The selected samples were then placed into Bijou bottle containing 3-5 ml of 70% alcohol for preservation. The selected samples of infected tissues were refrigerated for 24 hours and then processed for dehydration in the graded series of alcohols (60%, 70%, 80%, 85%, 90% upto 100%). The samples were shifted into cedar wood oil for clearing (6 to 12 hrs). Cedar wood Sindh Univ. Res. Jour. (Sci. Ser.) Vol. 49(1) 201-204 (2017) Abstract: The present research project was designed to calculate the Cutaneous Leishmaniasis infection in dogs few districts of Sindh, Pakistan. Dogs were screened for Cutaneous Leishmaniasis and potential Leishmaniasis positive cases were identified on the basis of active skin lesions. Affected tissues were collected and processed for Histo-pathological analysis. Dermal tissues of 35 domestic and 10 stray dogs were collected from Dadu, Hyderabad, and Jamshoro revealed that out of 45 dog samples, 30(66.66%) were positive for Cutaneous Leishmaniasis. The percentage of infection was 15(33.33%) positive in district Dadu, 10(22.22%) from district Hyderabad and 05 (11.11%) from district Jamshoro. Keywords: Cutaneous Leishmaniasis, Cannine Leishmaniasis, Leishmaniasis, Dog, Tissue, Histopathology/Biopsy, Pakistan ++ Correspondence: Allah Bux Kachiwal; Email: kachiwal2003@gmail.com *Sindh Agriculture University TandoJam Pakistan **Livestock & Fisheries Department, Government of Sindh at Hyderabad. ***Al-Amiri Hospital, Kuwait City, Kuwait. ****Civil Hospital, Karachi.