412 FAMILY: TRYPANOSOMID^ 



The first observation of canine kala azar was made by Nicolle and Comte (1908) 

 in Tunis, an endemic centre of the human disease. A large number of examinations 

 were subsequently made in Tunis and other parts of Lybia by NicoUe, the YakimoiSs 

 (1911c), Gray (1913), and others, with the result that the ordinary street dogs were 

 found infected to the extent of about 1-6 per cent. Examining a series of dogs which 

 were evidently in bad condition, Nicolle (1914) found a percentage of 5-5 infected. 

 Similar observations were made by Sergent Ed. and Et. (1910), Seuevet (1912), and 

 Lemaire, Sergent, and Lheritier (1913) in Algiers, where the human disease also exists. 

 The canine disease has also been seen in parts of Africa where the disease in man is 

 rare or unknown. Thus it has been found in Morocco by Delanoe and Denis (1916), 

 and at Dakar (Senegal) by Lafont and Heckenroth (1915). In the Sudan, Bousfield 

 (1911) found bodies somewhat resembling leishmania in a dog, but Archibald (1914) 

 examined many dogs in the endemic area without encountering a single case of the 

 canine disease. In endemic centres in Europe the disease in dogs has been frequently 

 encountered. In Malta, Critien (1910 and 1911) found three out of thirty dogs 

 infected, and tlie writer (1914a) six out of forty-six. Alvarez and Pereira da SUva 

 (1910, 1911) examined 300 dogs in Lisbon and found eight infected, and in a later 

 seriesfour out of 109. Martinez (1915) discovered the first canine case inSpain, while 

 Pittaluga (1914) observed three infected dogs in Tortosa and Beninar. In Italy and 

 Sicily, where infantUe kala azar exists, the canine disease has also been found. At 

 Bordonaro in SicUy, for instance, Basile (1910) claims to have found infection in as 

 many as twenty-seven out of thirty-three dogs examined. In Palermo itself Jemma 

 (1910 and 1912) found no case amongst 227 dogs examined, but in the environs of 

 the town discovered two infected animals, one of which was in close association with 

 a human case. In the same town Caronia and di Giorgio (1914) examined with 

 negative results 1,005 dogs, while in Catania Pulvirenti (1911) saw three infections 

 in a series of 275 dogs. These places in Italy and Sicily are endemic centres of the 

 disease, but canine kala azar has also been found in Rome, which is not an endemic 

 centre, though a single case in a child has been recorded here. The human disease 

 has, however, been recorded from Nice by Labbe, Targhetta, and Ameuille (1918). 

 In Greece, Cardamatis (1912) found eighty -one dogs infected amongst 589 examined 

 in Athens, and Lignos (1913), in the Isle of Hydra, found a percentage of infections 

 of 16-66 from May to October, while later (1916) another series examined during 

 the winter (October to April) gave a percentage of 8-77. In the Trans-Caspian 

 region Dschunkowsky and Luhs (1909?>) observed cases of canine kala azar, while in 

 Turkestan Kohl-Yakimofl, Yakimofl and Schokhor (1913), Yakimofl and Schokhor 

 (1914), and Yakimoff (1915«) found dogs to be infected in a percentage varying from 

 25 to 35, according to the season. Adelheim (1924) has reported kala azar in a child 

 and a dog in Eiga. Both contracted the disease in Tashkent, where the family had 

 been living. Cesari ( 1 925) reports the canine disease at Grasse in the South of France. 



In India the results have been very different. Donovan (1909b), working in 

 Madras, examined 1,150 dogs, 256 of which came from the kala azar quarter of the 

 city, without finding a single infection. Donovan (1913) and Patton (1913) recorded 

 the same result after a further examination of 2,000 dogs, also in Madras. Mackie 

 (1914) failed to find an infection amongst ninety-three dogs examined in the villages 

 of Nowgong (Assam), where the human disease is endemic. On the other hand, 

 Castellani (1912) claims to have observed the disease in several dogs in Colombo, 

 which is not an endemic centre of kala azar in man. Such an anomalous statement 

 can hardly be accepted till confirmatory evidence is forthcoming. Mr. Burgess, of 

 the Bacteriological Institute of Colombo, at the writer's request, kindly made 

 spleen smears from 250 dogs in Colombo. In none of these was the writer able to 

 find leishmania. 



