Immune-mediated nasal dermatitis in a dog with leishmaniasis infection: case report

Abstract

Leishmaniasis is a non-contagious zoonosis and is among the main neglected infectious diseases. It is difficult to diagnose due to its nonspecific clinical signs and the possibility of the animal being asymptomatic. Most dogs, when infected, may develop ulcerated and scaly lesions on the edge of the ear and face, which may be the only clinical sign, which may also be present in other skin diseases such as pemphigus and discoid lupus erythematosus. Other clinical manifestations such as splenomegaly, lymphadenopathy, joint pain, onychogryphosis, uveitis, conjunctivitis, anemia, and fever may also occur. This article reports a case of lesion in the nasal plane of a dog with leishmaniasis, which even with treatment, reduction of parasite load, without other clinical signs, did not improve, and it was necessary to associate corticosteroids and immunomodulator to reverse the inflammatory reaction. The complete treatment consisted of miltefosine, allopurinol, domperidone, prednisolone and cyclosporine. The improvement observed with the use of corticosteroids suggests that the animal had an immune-mediated lesion in the nasal plane. Thus, conventional treatment for leishmaniasis alone was not sufficient to promote lesion regression.