What Every Dog Owner Needs To Know About Leishmania In Spain
Leishmania in Spain is one of the first things any dog owner should research before making the move — and one of the last things most Americans think to look up. It’s not something most of us have ever encountered back home, but in Spain it’s endemic, it’s serious, and it catches expat dog owners off guard with regularity.
What Is Leishmania?
Leishmania (Leishmania infantum) is a parasitic disease transmitted by sandfly bites, and it’s endemic in Spain. It’s a permanent, established presence, not an occasional outbreak. It primarily affects dogs, though cats and humans can also be susceptible.
The disease can cause visceral infection (the most serious, affecting internal organs), cutaneous infection (the most common, affecting the skin) or mucocutaneous infection (rarely seen in Spain). What makes it particularly dangerous is that the parasite hides inside the cells of the dog’s own immune system. Symptoms — weight loss, skin lesions, kidney problems — can take months or even years to appear, by which point the disease may already be well established.
Where And When The Risk Is Highest
The highest-risk areas include the Mediterranean coast, the Balearic Islands (Ibiza, Mallorca, Minorca, Formantera), the southwest and central peninsula and the Ebro basin. The Valencian region, including Alicante and Valencia provinces, is specifically high-risk, which includes the Costa Blanca.
Sandflies are active from April through November, hide during the day, and are most active overnight — with peak biting between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. During peak season, a dog can be bitten up to 100 times an hour.
Prevention: Your First Vet Visit Is Critical
As soon as possible after you arrive in Spain, make finding a local vet and having the Leishmania conversation your first priority. Ideally before sandfly season starts in April or May. Spanish vets in endemic areas deal with this routinely and will set up the right protocol for your dog.
That visit should cover three things:
Testing first. Your dog needs to be tested before anything else. The vaccine is ineffective if Leishmania is already present, and you need a baseline regardless.
Vaccination. A vaccine is available for dogs from six months of age who test negative. It reduces the risk of infection and the severity of symptoms if the dog is later exposed. Protection is over 90% when combined with repellents. Don’t skip this.
Repellent collar or spot-on. Recommended options include a deltamethrin 4% collar, a flumethrin/imidacloprid collar, or a permethrin/imidacloprid spot-on. Scalibor and Seresto are widely used across Spain. Buy from your vet or a trusted retailer — counterfeit collars are common and offer little or no protection.
Beyond the vet visit, keep your dog indoors overnight during sandfly season and schedule an annual screening test even if your dog shows no symptoms.
If Your Dog Is Diagnosed
Treatment exists, but Leishmania typically cannot be fully cleared. The goal is to improve clinical signs, reduce parasite load and prevent relapse — but recurrence is common. First-line treatment is typically meglumine antimoniate combined with allopurinol, or miltefosine combined with allopurinol. Most dogs will remain on some form of ongoing medication and require regular vet monitoring for the rest of their lives. The honest picture on prognosis is that it depends heavily on how early the disease is caught.
About 75% of dogs without kidney involvement at the time of diagnosis live for more than four years with adequate treatment. Dogs diagnosed at an early stage can survive more than four years; those diagnosed with more advanced disease, particularly with significant renal dysfunction, fare considerably worse. Kidney disease is the primary driver of serious outcomes — monitoring for renal function is an ongoing part of managing a diagnosed dog, alongside watching for treatment side effects.
The message here isn’t to panic — many dogs live well for years after diagnosis. But it does reinforce why early detection through annual screening matters and why prevention is so much more than a precaution.
You can find out more here about moving with pets to Spain.