Visceral leishmaniosis (VL) is an infectious disease transmitted by sandflies and usually caused by Leishmania infantum in Iran (1). The clinical signs of VL in human include prolonged fever, hepatosplenomegaly, substantial weight loss, progressive anemia, and even death (2). The endemic areas of Iran are Fars and Bushehr Provinces in South, the districts of Meshkinshahr and Moghan in Northwest and Qom Province in center of Iran (1, 3, 4). There were approximately 50 cases of VL per year from Fars Province . In these regions, children were more sensitive than adults (5) were. Dogs (Canis familiaris) that are used in livestock breeding in these tribes are principal reservoir hosts for Mediterranean type of visceral leishmaniasis (6).

Based on reports from health centers of Fars Province, 1995-2005, there was an average of 68.3 newly infected individuals each year, which has increased in comparison to 1991 statistics. Moreover, the infection was predominantly observed in children aged less than 12 years old from Qashqaei and Khamseh tribes. In order to determine the VL prevalence in Qashqaei tribes, 321 serum samples from ≤12 year old children and 32 serum samples from Qashqaei tribe dogs were collected and tested by Direct Agglutination Test (DAT).