Development and application of 'simple' diagnostic tools for visceral leishmaniasis

The diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis is difficult. Due to the limitation s of direct methods to detect parasites, indirect immunological methods are widely employed. The simple affordable and sensitive/specific direct agglu tination test (DAT) is perhaps the most important diagnostic tool under fie ld conditions. significant improvement of this test is the use of a freeze- dried antigen, which is heat-stable and has a long shelf-live even under ha rsh conditions. The performance of this antigen in DAT has been evaluated u sing samples collected in East Africa. The results of these studies are pre sented. The detection of Leishmania infection in HIV-co-infected patients i s difficult. The combination of DAT-PCR may be useful for the detection of parasite infection in these patients. Finally, we present data to show that the DAT based on the freeze-dried antigen can also be used for the detecti on of anti-Leishmania antibodies in dogs.