[Canine visceral leishmaniasis in dog from Caldas Novas, Goiás]

The objective of the present work was to describe a visceral case of leishmaniasis in a dog from Caldas Novas, GO, region until then considered as a disease free area. The animal, attended in the Veterinarian Hospital of the Federal University of Goiás, presented loss of weight, alopecic area of irregular format at the nasal back, onicogrifosis, atrophy of the heads muscles and failure of the right popliteus lymphonode. For the laboratorial diagnosis, samples were collected by biopsy from the complete skin of the auricular region, by punsion from the popliteus lymphonode for preparation of Giemsa stained blades and 5 mL of the blood were also collected for serum diagnosis. The direct microscopy revealed, from the evaluation of the imprint obtained from the skin fragment and from the squash of the inhaled lymphonode, great amount of amastigoste forms of Leishmania in the cytoplasm of macrophages. Based on the clinical presentation, on the parasitologic and on the serology examination of the samples, we concluded the exams with the diagnosis of calazar disease.