**3.2.2 Serodiagnosis of leishmaniasis**

All sera from suspected or confirmed VL cases are sent to our laboratory for serodiagnosis. Our reference technique is the fluorescent antibody test (FAT). It is carried out by using *Leishmania*-spot IF slides (bioMerieux, France) on sera serially diluted starting from 1/100. Sera showing fluorescence at 1/200 dilution are considered positive.

In addition to FAT, we have been using, since 2003, the rK39 dipstick test (DST). The first one we used was from Inbios International, USA (kalazar detect). Then, since 2007 and up to date, we have been using the Dia.Med IT Leish (Dia Med, Switzerland), according to Saghrouni et al., 2009.
