Epidemiological and Clinical Aspects of Canine Visceral Leishmaniasis as a Public Health Issue

Abstract

The present article aimed to organize, through a literature review, the main concepts related to the epidemiology of Canine Visceral Leishmaniasis (CVL). The methodology consisted of a narrative literature review, in which thirty-two scientific articles were analyzed, organized and categorized into thematic axes on the etiology, biological cycle, epidemiology, clinical aspects, diagnosis, prophylaxis and treatment of CVL. The results obtained showed that this pathology has been intensely studied and, as it is a zoonosis in increasing expansion and expansion of the notified geographic areas, with new cases that have been growing in parallel with the expansion of disorganized urbanization and deficient basic sanitation conditions, it has also been observed that the number of stray dogs in cities has been increasing, which implies greater exposure to vectors, in addition to favoring the circulation of the etiological agent between hosts, which characterizes this pathology as a serious public health problem.This theoretical approach showed that it is very important to carry out research involving the most varied aspects of this disease so that the population is constantly alerted about the degree of danger of CVL, in addition to emphasizing the care of handling pets and maintaining homeostasis in the relationship between different species.Therefore, it is observed that theoretical studies are necessary tools that support the databases of other works involving LVC and offer a broad view of the existing literature on this topic.