Risk and protective factors of Leishmaniasis in the rural area of the western border region of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

BACKGROUND: The Leishmaniases are on the top of the global list of tropical neglected diseases. The number of infected dogs in South America is estimated in millions and correlated to disease cases in humans, especially in Brazil. Equines may get infected too and can play a role in the epidemiological chain. Thus, the aim of the present study was to evaluate risk and protective factors of leishmaniasis in rural areas of the western border region of Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil by Leishmania spp. protozoa molecular detection and serological evaluation (ELISA) in equine and canine blood samples. This work included nine farms around the city of Uruguaiana. Epidemiologic information regarding farm characteristics and biologic material collection of canine (22) and equine (91), totalizing 113 samples was collected. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique was used to detect Leishmania spp. in biological samples. Variables related to the farm were collected and evaluated through descriptive analysis followed by chi-square test and a logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Nineteen positive samples (19/113 – 16,81%) were detected, being 18 equines and 1 canine, in six of the nine farms included in the study. No animal showed clinical signs of the disease. According to the variables analyzed, when compared each characteristic separately, the presence of abundant vegetation and poor hygiene demonstrated to be risk factors to Leishmania infection in rural areas. The logistic regression showed that excellent general hygiene, proximity to the weir and trimmed grass were protective factors (p=0.038, p=0.001 and p=0.014, respectively). Having excellent hygiene represents a 70% lower chance of getting infected, keeping the grass cut protects the animal by more than 90% and the proximity of the weir represents a protective factor of 96%. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of Leishmania infection in the western border region of Rio Grande do Sul was 16,81% and it was influenced by farm characteristics. The role of the excellent general hygiene as a protective factor is extremely relevant in the leishmaniases prevention. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12917-021-03021-6.