Leishmania infection in cats and dogs housed together in an animal shelter reveals a higher parasite load in infected dogs despite a greater seroprevalence among cats.

Comparisons of populations of cats and dogs exposed to sand flies and L. infantum under the same conditions indicated that although a high rate of exposure was detected in cats as manifested by a significantly greater degree of seropositivity, dogs had significantly higher blood parasite loads, and were likely to be more infectious to sand flies than cats.