The isolation and identification of leishmanial parasites from domestic dogs in the Machakos District of Kenya, and the possible role of dogs as reservoirs of kala-azar in East Africa.

Two out of 288 sick and emaciated dogs from homesteads in the Machakos District of Kenya, where human kala-azar cases existed, were found to be infected with leishmaniasis. The leishmanial strain isolated from one of the dogs was characterized enzymologically and serologically and found to be identical with strains isolated from human kala-azar cases and Phlebotomus martini. The significance of these findings is discussed in terms of the general epidemiology of visceral leishmaniasis in Kenya.