Canine visceral leishmaniasis diagnosis: a comparative performance of serological and molecular tests in symptomatic and asymptomatic dogs.

Although serological assays have been widely used for the diagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL), they present different performances depending on the clinical profile of the dogs. This study evaluated the accuracy of serological tests, immunochromatographic (Dual Path Platform: DPP®) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent (ELISA EIE®), for CVL in relation to the detection of Leishmania DNA through real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR) in samples from symptomatic and asymptomatic dogs from a non-endemic area in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil. Serum from 140 dogs (39 symptomatic and 101 asymptomatic) was tested by DPP and ELISA followed by real-time PCR.