EUTANÁSIA CANINA COMO MEDIDA PROFILÁTICA PARA O CONTROLE DA LEISHMANIOSE HUMANA: UMA ABORDAGEM BIOÉTICA.

Leishmaniasis is characterized as a complex of parasitic diseases and constitutes a major public health problem, ranking among the six major tropical diseases in developing countries according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The dog is considered the most important reservoir of urban infection, being able to present asymptomatic infection, with a high degree of cutaneous parasitism, continuing to transmit the disease. In this context, strict control actions, especially through the euthanasia of seropositive dogs, are necessary. Other methods of control include the use of residual insecticide, environmental management in homes and a rigorous epidemiological surveillance. Euthanasia was initially conceptualized as the act of taking life, and could be applied to humans or animals. Today it can be understood as a practice used to shorten life, in order to relieve or avoid suffering. In Brazil, Interministerial Ordinance n. 1.426 of 2008 prohibits the treatment of infected or sick dogs, and Resolution n. 714, of 2002, of the CFMV provides for procedures for performing euthanasia. In this context, thinking specifically about canine euthanasia as a prophylactic measure for human leishmaniasis, a bioethical discussion should be widely stimulated, since there are other behaviors that can be adopted as preventive measures, such as the treatment of human patients and the control of vectors in the environment. Several studies have also been developed with the help of biotechnology, with stimulation of immunotherapies and vaccine therapies for the control of leishmaniasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]