Participation of the dog in the cycle of transmission of cutaneous leishmaniasis in the municipality of Viana, State of Espirito Santo, Brazil

In an endemic area of cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Viana municipality, Espírito Santo state, an investigation was performed on natural hosts of Leishmania among domestic animals, trying to correlate the presence of infected animals with the occurrence of the disease in humans. Within a three weeks period 186 dogs were examined and 32 (17.2%) were found infected. Eleven new cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis were recorded during one year, among people living in the endemic area. A close relationship was observed between the presence of infected dogs and the occurrence of human leishmaniasis. In the area studied, the disease seems to behave as a zoonosis maintained by domestic dogs.