# Presence or Emergence of Canine Leishmaniasis, Malawi **Authors:** Boniface Chikufenji, Kyoko Hayashida, Yasuyuki Goto, Tatsuki Sugi, Chizu Sanjoba, Chrispin Njala, Inga McDermott, Frederic Lohr, Dagmar Mayer, Shohei Ogata, Masahiro Kajihara, Naganori Nao, Ryo Nakao, Laston Chimaliro, Donales Kapira, Janelisa Musaya, Junya Yamagishi, Elisha Chatanga PMC · DOI: 10.3201/eid3201.250855 · Emerging Infectious Diseases · 2026-01-01 ## TL;DR A study in Malawi found that canine leishmaniasis, a neglected zoonotic disease, may be more prevalent than previously thought. ## Contribution This study is the first to report a high prevalence of Leishmania infection in Malawi's indigenous dogs. ## Key findings - Leishmania infection was found in some areas with seropositivity rates up to 7.0%. - The findings suggest canine leishmaniasis may be endemic in Malawi. - This challenges the previous belief that the disease was absent in the region. ## Abstract Canine leishmaniasis has long been thought to be absent in Malawi. However, our cross-sectional study in indigenous dogs showed a high prevalence of Leishmania infection in some areas, where seropositivity rates reached up to 7.0%. These findings suggest that this neglected zoonotic disease may already be endemic in Malawi. ## Full-text entities - **Diseases:** visceral leishmaniasis (MESH:D007898), rabies (MESH:D011818), ulcerative lesions (MESH:D014456), HIV-infected (MESH:D015658), tropical diseases (MESH:D015493), emaciation (MESH:D004614), Infection (MESH:D007239), systemic disease (MESH:D034721), Canine Leishmaniasis (MESH:D007896), zoonotic disease (MESH:D015047), deaths (MESH:D003643), malaria (MESH:D008288), parasitic disease (MESH:D010272), alopecia (MESH:D000505), cutaneous leishmaniasis (MESH:D016773) - **Chemicals:** M199 (-), Oil (MESH:D009821), Giemsa (MESH:D001399), EDTA (MESH:D004492) - **Species:** Canis lupus familiaris (dog, subspecies) [taxon 9615], Leishmania infantum (species) [taxon 5671], Homo sapiens (human, species) [taxon 9606], Leishmania donovani (species) [taxon 5661] - **Cell lines:** MON — Homo sapiens (Human), Extrarenal rhabdoid tumor, Cancer cell line (CVCL_M846) ## Full text _Full body text omitted from this summary view._ Fetch the complete paper as Markdown: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12870074/full.md ## Figures 3 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12870074/full.md ## References 15 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12870074/full.md --- Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12870074