Leishmaniasis is a serious parasitic disease increasingly encountered in UK dogs that have travelled to or been imported from Mediterranean countries.
Leishmaniasis causes chronic, progressive disease that substantially compromises quality of life in affected dogs. The long incubation period - sometimes months to years - means dogs may be imported or return from travel apparently healthy but incubating the disease. Renal involvement is a major welfare concern, as progressive kidney failure causes cumulative suffering. Many affected dogs require complex, expensive, lifelong treatment and monitoring. Welfare is best served by pre-travel and post-travel screening, preventive insecticide treatment during periods of sandfly exposure, and early diagnosis in dogs showing compatible signs.