In a zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (ZVL)-endemic area in Brazil, deltamethrin-impregnated collars (DMC) were fitted to 136 dogs for 5 months and significantly reduced the odds of increasing their anti-Leishmania antibody titer during this period by 50% (95% confidence interval 29-87%, P=0.01), as compared with a population of 97 uncollared dogs with pre-intervention prevalence within the same town. Mathematical modeling suggests that under typical Brazilian ZVL-endemic conditions, the epidemiological impact of community-wide DMC application should be greater than the currently practiced dog culling strategy, but that its impact will be dependent on collar coverage and loss rate.
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