while TSA-1 belongs to the large family of trans-sialidase proteins, with both conserved and variable epitopes [46–48]. Also, we observed a much lower parasitemia than previously obtained with a nearly double dose of the same parasite strain in dogs [33], possibly in part because of the very diverse genetic background and susceptibility to infection of mongrel dogs. In spite of this very high inter-individual variability, these dogs remain a very useful model since they represent a typical target population for a potential veterinary vaccine.