Development of a dipstick assay for detection of Leishmania-specific canine antibodies.

A dipstick assay, based on Leishmania infantum antigen, for the rapid detection of Leishmania-specific antibodies in canine serum samples was developed and evaluated. After determination of optimal dipstick test conditions, test performance was compared with two existing serological tests, i.e., the direct agglutination test (DAT) and the fast agglutination screening test (FAST). In the present study the dipstick test had a sensitivity of 99.2% and a specificity of 87.9%. The DAT had a sensitivity of 97.7% and a specificity of 95.2%, whereas the FAST had also a sensitivity of 97.7% and a specificity of 93.0%. High degrees of agreement were observed between the dipstick test and DAT (93.7%; kappa value, 0.86), between the dipstick test and FAST (91.8%; kappa value, 0.82), and between the DAT and FAST (95.2%; kappa value, 0.90). The high sensitivity and ease of performance make the dipstick test very suitable for surveillance surveys.