PREPARATION OF KILLED LEISHMANIA VACCINE AND ITS EVALUATION FOR CONTROL OF VISCERAL LEISHMANIASIS IN DOGS

Abstract

In this study, 16 eligible dogs were randomly divided in to 4 groups. Group 1, 2, 3 and 4 received autoclaved Leishmania infantum with BCG (ALI+BCG), autoclaved Leishmania major + BCG (ALM + BCG), BCG alone and normal saline, respectively. Dogs received the vaccines intradermally 3 times at 30 days intervals. All dogs were followed up 2 months intervals by Leishmanin skin test and Anti -Leishmania immunoenzymatic assay (ELISA) and Direct Agglutination Test (DAT) for detection of IgG and 1gM antibodies in collected blood samples. Ninety days after third dose, all dogs received an intraperitoneal challenge of 2.5 x 106 infective promastigotes of Leishmania infantum. After 7 months of follow up, necropsy was performed in all dogs to detect the parasites. Result of this study showed that all the dogs in unvaccinated groups were infected with L.infantum but in vaccinated groups, only one dog was infected.