[Leishmaniasis in dogs in Germany: epidemiological case analysis and alternatives to conventional causal therapy]

Between January 1993 and September 1995 Leishmania infections were detected in 236 dogs in Germany. Of the 132 epidemiologically evaluable dogs, 35 animals had travelled with their owners abroad in endemic areas and 97 dogs had been brought from these regions to Germany by animal lovers. As regards to the possible location of infection it has been registered that these dogs have been taken to countries of the Mediterranean Sea (Spain, France, Italy, Turkey) or to Portugal or had been imported from there. Therapeutic trials with allopurinol revealed that this drug administered at daily doses of 20 mg/kg bodyweight p.o. over weeks disposes of a sufficient therapeutic efficacy against canine leishmaniosis.