First report on natural Leishmania infection of Phlebotomus sergenti due Leishmania tropica by high resolution melting curve method in South-eastern Iran

OBJECTIVE@#To identify the Leishmania species in infected sand flies by Real-time PCR coupled with HRM analysis.@*METHODS@#Real-time PCR coupled with HRM analysis targeting the first internal transcribed spacer (ITS1) of nuclear ribosomal DNA as the genetic marker was used to identify and distinguish Leishmania species in sand flies specimens.@*RESULTS@#Three out of 115 females of Phlebotomus sergenti (P. sergenti) (2.6%) were positive to Leishmania tropica (L. tropica).@*CONCLUSIONS@#This is the first report on P. sergenti as the main and proven vector of anthroponitic cutaneous leishmaniasis in Dehbakri County using Real-time PCR coupled with HRM analysis. This method is rapid, sensitive and specific for diagnosing of parasites in infected Sand flies and ideal for large scale genotyping projects.

[ effects of prevention knowledge compared to the improvement of housing conditionsin control of anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis: a natural experience of earthquake in Bam/Iran]

Background and Aims: There are still many unknowns about prevention and control of Anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis [ACL]. Bam district is one of the old foci of CL. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of knowledge of prevention and improving housing, conditions in control of ACL based on a natural experience of earth quack, in Bam city

Methods: This comparative - analytical study was carried out in two time periods of before and after the 2003 bam Earthquake. Sampling was performed through random cluster method from the CL high risk areas within the city of Bam. The selected houses were actively visited in a similar manner and data about houses, hygienic conditions and the history of CL infection in the last three years were recorded. Data were analyzed through SPSS software and using t, Chi-Square and regression tests

Results: Both knowledge of CL prevention and housing, conditions were significantly better [p<0.0001] after the 2003 earthquake than before the earthquake. While the knowledge of CL prevention alone had no direct effect on the incidence rate of disease during both two time periods, improvement of housing, conditions was effective in decreasing the incidence rate significantly [p<0.0001]. The household heads of houses with better living conditions indicated a high knowledge of prevention [r= 0.7, p<0.001]

Conclusion: As it was seen, the earthquake has caused basic changes in hygienic conditions of houses and promotion of knowledge of CL prevention. Therefore, consequenthy improvement of housing, conditions directly and improvement of prevention knowledge indirectly decreased the incidence rate of CL. Therefore, for control and elimination of ACL, in addition to the early treatment, improvement of housing conditions is highly important

Investigation of double-band electrophoretic pattern of ITS-rDNA region in Iranian isolates of leishmania tropica

Leishmania tropica is a genetically divergent species. Amplification of entire internal transcribed spacer [ITS] region of L. tropica isolates obtained from Bam district, one of the well known focus of anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis [ACL] in Iran, revealed a double-band pattern in agarose gel electrophoresis. This study explains how this pattern occurs. Twenty seven L. tropica smear preparations were collected from Bam district, south east Iran, and eight L. major and one L. infantum smear preparations were gathered from Shiraz, south west Iran. Furthermore one L. major and one L. infantum cultured standard strains were tested using entire ITS-PCR to survey their electrophoretic pattern. The ITS sequences of L. tropica, L. major, and L. infantum already deposited in GenBank were analyzed. Analysis of GenBank sequences of L. tropica revealed two groups of sequences based on length size, one group having a 100 bp gap. Therefore, a new reverse primer namely LITS-MG was designed to exclude this gap in PCR products. Whole ITS fragment amplification resulted in a double-band pattern in all L. tropica cases, while a sharp single band was observed for L. infantum and L. major isolates. This result was corresponding to the result obtained from in silico analysis of GenBank sequences. Use of LITS-MG primer was expectedly resulted in a single band including ITS1, 5.8s and partial ITS2 product for L. tropica which is appropriate for following molecular studies such as sequencing or restriction analysis. Sequences analysis of GenBank L. tropica sequences and following practical laboratory tests revealed at least two alleles in L. tropica which were confirmed in Bam isolates. This especial double-band pattern is because of a 100 bp fragment difference within ITS-rDNA alleles.

[Seroepidemiology of canine visceral leishmaniasis in Kerman city, 2011]

Visceral leishmaniosis [VL] is a sporadic disease in many provinces of Iran, while it is considered endemic in other parts. This study was designed to assess the seroprevalence of canine VL in the Kerman city. Samples were randomly selected from the referred household dogs to the veterinary hospital of Shahid Bahonar university, Kerman, Iran and stray dogs, euthanized by Kerman municipality. Blood samples were taken after complete clinical examination. All collected sera were tested by a commercial indirect ELISA kit for the presence of anti Leishmania infantum antibodies. In addition, complete blood count tests were performed in all dogs to detect hematological alterations. Collected data were analyzed through SPSS software and using chi[2] and fishers' exact tests. The overall seroprevalence was 7.03%, which was calculated 11.1% in stray dogs. Seroprevalence of disease was significantly higher in dogs over 5 years old in comparison to younger dogs [P<0.01]. Seroprevalence had no significant relationship with sex and hematological alterations. Although the seroprevalence of canine VL in Kerman city was less than that in endemic parts, stray dogs could be a potential risk factor for public health in this area. Further complementary ecological studies on vectors and reservoirs in different areas of Kerman province seem to be necessary

Fatal case of Plasmodium vivax malaria in a splenectomized patient

Malaria is a major problem in tropical and sub-tropical countries, with high morbidity and mortality. Splenectomy makes patients more susceptible to serious bacterial and parasitic infections. We report for the first time in Iran a fatal case of Plasmodium vivax malaria, confirmed by microscopic and molecular [Semi-nested multiplex PCR] tests in a patient who had undergone splenectomy due to hemolytic anemia

[ epidemiology of cutaneous leishmaniasis in the city and suburb of bam in 2010: active case - finding, treatment and health education of the school children]

Cutaneous leishmaniasis [CL] is one the major health problem in tropical and sub- tropical countries. Bam district in Iran is an old focus of anthroponotic CL [ACL]. The aim of this survey was to assess the prevalence rate of CL by case- finding, treatment of cases and training of primary school children in the city and suburb of Bam in 2010. All school children in three levels [18501 children] were included. Children were physically examined for presence of sores or scars. Suspected cases were referred to the center for cutaneous leishmaniasis control [CCLC] for diagnosis and the CL positive children were treated, accordingly. School children were trained and also educational and informative pamphlets were given to their parents. After initial physical examination, 117 suspected school children [6.9%] were referred to the CCLC and 48 children [28 per 10000] diagnosed as CL patients, comprising of 19 females [39.5%] and 29 males [60.5%]. Fifteen [31.2%] school children were identified as lupoid leishmaniasis, failure to treatment or non - healing cases. The prevalence rate was decreased about 18- fold as compared to the previous investigation in 2005. Establishment of the CCLC, active case- finding and subsequent treatment, seem to be a successful model for controlling CL in the endemic countries

[ prevalence of cutaneous leishmaniasis in the city and suburb of Mohammadabad, Jiroft district and identification of parasite species by nested-PCR, 2008]

Cutaneous leishmaniasis [CL] is a health problem in the world, including Iran. The objective of this study was to assess the epidemiology of CL and determination of the causative parasite species in the city and suburb of Mohammadabad, Jiroft district. This descriptive and cross-sectional study was performed in census manner. Diagnosis was based on direct smear microscopy and Nested-PCR technique was applied for the identification of species. Overall, 3516 individuals consisting of 1743 females [49.6%] and 1773 males [50.4%] were physically examined for the presence of active lesion or scar. The prevalence rate was 6.2% in female and 4.5% in male subjects with a significant difference [P<0.05]. Most of the infection was in the age group of 11-20 years [10.5%] and the lowest was in the age group of 21-30 year [3%]. Most of the lesions were on the face [47%] and the majority [64%] had one lesion. Based on Nested-PCR technique all examined cases were Leishmania tropica. This study has been conducted for the first time in north of Jiroft district in proximity of Bam district. Increasing rate of this disease after the earthquake and in accordance with the epidemic condition in the city of Bam is due to the frequent traveling of people to this rural area

Epidemiological aspects of visceral leishmaniasis in Baft district, Kerman province, southeast of Iran

Visceral leishmaniasis [kala-azar] is an endemic disease in some areas of Iran. A cross-sectional study was conducted for sero-epidemiological survey of visceral leishmaniasis [VL] in Baft district from Kerman Province, southeast of Iran. Blood samples were collected from children up to 12 years old and 10% of adult population from Baft villages with a multi-stage randomized cluster sampling. In addition, blood samples were collected from 30 domestic dogs from the same areas. All the collected blood samples were tested by direct agglutination test [DAT] for the detection of anti-Leishmania antibodies in both human and dog using the cut-off value of >/= 1:3200 and >/= 1:320, respectively. Parasitological, molecular, and pathological were performed on infected dogs. Chi-square and Fisher exact tests were used to compare sero-prevalence values. From 1476 collected human serum samples, 23 [1.55%] showed anti-Leishmania antibodies at titers of 1:800 and 1:1600 whereas 14 [0.95%] showed anti-Leishmania infantum antibodies at titers of >/= 1:3200. No statistically significant difference was found between male [1.18%] and female [0.69%] sero-prevalence [P=0.330]. Children of 5-8 years showed the highest sero-prevalence rate [3.22%]. Seven out of 30 domestic dogs [23%] showed anti-Leishmania antibodies at titers >/= 1:320. Leishmania infantum was identified in five infected dogs by nested -PCR assay. It seems that visceral leishmaniasis is being endemic in southern villages of Baft district, southeast of Iran

[Identification of nonresponsive isolates to glucantime in patients with cutaneous leishmanaisis in bam]

Background and Aims: Cutaneous leishmaniasis [CL] is a prevalent disease worldwide including Iran. In Iran Leishmania tropica and Leishmania major are two causing factors of cutaneous leishmaniasis and Bam is one of the old and well-known focuses of CL. The objective of the present study was to identify the resistant isolates to meglumine antimoniate [MA] for implementation of future control measures in Bam

Methods: This work has been conducted during 2009-2010 in the city of Bam and Kerman School of Medicine. From a total of 2126 patients with CL, 235 patients [11.1%] were resistant against MA [Glucantime] of whom 51 ones were randomly selected. Skin scrapings were taken for direct smear preparations and culture media and Nested-polymerase chain reaction [PCR] were used for species identification

Findings: In this study, 122 males [51.9%] and 113 females [48.1%], resistant to MA were identified that shows no significant difference between the two sexes. With a significant difference most of the resistant patients were in the age group 11-21 years [29.4%], followed by 10 years [21.6%] and the lowest were in the age group 55 years [5.9%]. Most of the lesions were on face [55.5%], the majority had one lesion [64.5%] and 33.3% received MA intra -lesionally. According to the results of PCR, all 51 isolates were Leishmania tropica

Conclusion: To our knowledge this is the first study that is carried out on the resistant patients to MA in Bam. Since the incidence of this disease and drug resistance have been increased after the earth quake of 2003, further studies to identify genetic variants of resistant isolates in order to use new alternative drugs are required

Spatial distribution and molecular identification of leishmania species from endemic foci of south-eastern Iran

Cutaneous leishmaniasis constitutes a major public health problem in many parts of the world including Iran. The primary objective of this study was to identify Leishmania species in endemic districts of Kerman Province, south-eastern Iran. This study was conducted by random sampling as cross- sectional descriptive between 2008 and 2010. Overall, 203 skin scraping smears were taken from the patients. Nested -PCR was performed to amplify variable minicircle fragments of Leishmania kDNA. Bam was the most infected district [71.1%], followed by Kerman [14.7%], Jiroft [5.4%], Baft [2.7%], Sirjan [1.6%], Shahr-e Babak [1.5%] and others [3.0%]. L. tropica was the most common species identified [194 cases, 95.6%], while L. major was found in only 9 cases [4.4%]. Of 203 identified patients, all species in Bam [l07 cases], Kerman [32 cases], Jiroft [l6 cases] and Shahr-e- Babak [l1 cases] were detected as L. tropica, whereas infected subjects in Baft and Sirjan showed L. tropica or L. major. Characterization of Leishmania species resulted in generation of 750 bp and 560 bp fragments, corresponding to those of L. tropica and L. major, respectively. L. tropica is the main species [95.6%] caused ACL in endemic areas of Kerman Province; however L. major is present in low level [4.4%]

Susceptibility status of phlebotomus papatasi and P. sergenti [diptera: psychodidae] to DDT and deltamethrin in a focus of cutaneous leishmaniasis after earthquake strike in Bam, Iran

The cutaneous leishmaniasis [CL] has been occurred in Dehbakri County, located 46 km of Bam District, Kerman Province since 2004-2005. Phlebotomus papatasi is an important vector of zoonotic cutaneous leishmanisis [ZCL] as well as sand fly fever and P. sergenti is considered as main vector of anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis [ACL] in Iran. There are several measures for vector control with emphasizing on insecticides. The objective of this study was to determine the baseline susceptibility of leishmaniasis vectors to the DDT and deltamethrin in an endemic focus of CL in southern Iran. Baseline susceptibility tests were carried out on field collected strains of P. papatasi and P. sergenti and tested with WHO impregnated papers with DDT 4.0% and deltamethrin 0.05% in the focus of disease in Dehbakri County during summer 2010. The values of LT[50] and LT[90]0 were determined using probit analysis and regression lines. The LT[50] value of DDT 4.0% and deltamethrin 0.05% against P. papatasi was 20.6 and 13.6 minutes respectively. The same data for P. sergenti were ranged between 21.8 and 17.7 minutes. The results of tests will provide a guideline for implementation of vector control using pesticides such as impregnated bed nets, indoor residual spraying and fogging

[To evaluate the costs of prevention on incidence of cutaneous leishmaniasis due of earthquake in Bam]

Cutaneous leishmaniasis [CL] is an endemic disease in district of Bam. It has created considerable concerns by people and health authorities. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of the earthquake and costs of prevention on CL prevalence after earthquake This research is based on a natural intervention, in which the information related to the costs and prevalence of CL were collected and analyzed three years after the earthquake [2006-2008] and then compared with similar data three years before the earthquake [2000-2002] as control group. The earthquake increased the CL prevalence approximately 5.2 fold, although the cost of prevention had no significant effect on control of disease. The average cost of prevention was determined to be two US dollars per capita during the years after the earthquake. It figures up an overall estimation of 600000 US dollars for the three years after the earthquake. Meanwhile the cost of prevention before the earthquake was determined less than 5% comparing to after earthquake. The findings of this cost-analysis showed that the current and conventional methods of CL prevention seem not useful. It could be concluded that current preventive measures such as spraying and impregnated bed nets particularly in natural disasters would have no effect on control of disease. Further researches are needed to find out the best method of prevention of CL disease. At present, it seems that early case-finding and prompt treatment of cases would be a proper method to control anthropometric CL

Prevalence rate of cutaneous leishmaniasis in bam district during 20 years [1988-2007]

Cutaneous leishmaniasis [CL] has been endemic in Bam district for many years and several epidemics have already occurred. Following a silent period, another outbreak of CL occurred after the earthquake in 2003. This study was performed to find the trend of CL during 20 years [1988-2007] in Bam district. In a retrospective study, data of 29395 CL patients were collected from medical records of Center for CL Control and Treatment and also from previous published studies and analyzed. Before the earthquake there were three periods of outbreak, control and silent. The highest prevalence [8.3%, 6734 cases] was in 2000, whereas the lowest [0.2%, 215 cases] was in 2003 just prior to the earthquake. Again, in 2006 CL prevalence increased to an epidemic level [2.6%, 2880 cases]. During these 20 years, age of patients has increased and after the earthquake males infected more than females. Lesion sites has changed from face to hands and legs. The causative agent and the vector have been Leishmania tropica and phlebotomus sergenti, respectively. Epidemiology of CL varies with environmental changes and due to the immunity after infection, the incidence rate becomes equivalent to the birth rate. Increase in the prevalence of CL after the earthquake is mainly due to the immigration of non-immune individuals to this area. In endemic areas with frequent natural disasters such as earthquake, it is very essential to consider preventive programs in advance

Antileishmanial activity of Artemisia aucheri, Ferula asa-foetid and Gossypium hirsutum extracts on Leishmania major promastigotes in vitro

Leishmaniasis is a complex disease with a broad spectrum of clinical features, usually divided into cutaneous leishmaniasis [CL], muco-cutaneous leishmaniasis [MCL], and visceral leishmaniasis [VL]. Plant extracts or plant-derived compounds are likely to provide a valuable source of new medicinal agents. In endemic countries, a number of traditional plants are commonly used to treat infectious conditions. Advances in the research of natural products for the treatment of leishmaniasis have been recently reviewed. To evaluate, anti-Leishmanial activity of three plant extracts on Leishmania major promastigotes as compared to a trivalent antimonial compound [tartar emetic], in vitro. promastigote stages of L.major [MRHO/IR/75/ER] were transferred to RPMI-1640 medium, supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum [PCS] and antibiotics then grown at 25 +/- 2°C. The biological activity of plant extracts in comparison to potassium antimonyl tartrate [Sb[lll]] on L.major promastigotes were assessed by using a MTT assay. The optical density [OD] due to cleavage of the tetrazolium salt MTT [3-[4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide] into a colored product formazan by the parasite was measured by ELISA reader. The IC50 values [50% inhibitory concentrations] were determined, accordingly. All experiments were repeated in duplicate plant extracts and tartar emetic inhibited the growth of promastigote forms of L.major in vitro after 72 hour of incubation and drug control had a 50% inhibitory concentration [IC50] of 4.7 pg/ml, and microC50 values of plant extracts Artemisia aucheri, Ferula asa-foetida and Gossypium hirsutum were 7.5, 5.9 and 3.6 microg/ml, respectively. Although Gossypium hirsutum was more effective than others, but all extracts had profound effect on promastigotes of L.major. Plant extracts including Artemisia aucheri, Ferula asa-foetida and Gossypium hirsutum have anti-leishmanial effects in vitro. Further works are required to evaluate the exact effect of these extracts on Leishmania species in animal models

[Evaluation of the cost - effectiveness of cutaneous leishmaniasis treatment after the earthquake in Bam]

Cutaneous leishmaniasis [CL] is a vector - borne disease and at present it is one of the important health problems in tropical and sub - tropical countries including Iran. Due to imposed expenses to the people and government, this study was performed to evaluate the cost - effectiveness of cutaneous leishmaniasis treatment in the years after the earthquake in Bam/Iran. In a descriptive cross-sectional study data about treatment costs CL-patients during 2006-7 were collected. Overall, 100 recovered patients were randomly selected and their treatment costs were analyzed. For 5320 CL patients about 2570 million rials was spend by the government that was equal to per capita cost of 483676 rials. In addition, 1150 million rials were spent by the patients themselves in private clinics which increase the per capita cost to 216320 rials. Overall, 3% of the patients referred to private sectors that had 2 million rials costs and 25% referred to both governmental and private sectors which has led to a per capita cost of 550000 rials. In total, over 90% of the costs were direct and 10% were indirect costs. The per capita treatment cost in this study shows a significant difference with those by other national and international reports. The establishment of CL Treatment Center after the earthquake in bam has reduced the disease costs and provided an efficient, free and easy accessible service for the patients. This experience could be a suitable model to be used nationally as well as globally

[Epidemiological and clinical aspects of Kala-azar in hospitalized children of Kerman province, during 1991-2006]

Leishmaniasis is a complex parasitic disease with various epidemiological and clinical features. Visceral leishmaniasis [VL] can be extremely fatal in untreated cases. The objective of this study was to assess the epidemiological and clinical aspects of the disease in children with VL in Kerman province during 1991-2006. In a descriptive-analytical survey, medical files of 68 VL cases hospitalized in Hospital No. 1 and Afzalipour Medical Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences during 1991-2006 were studied. Data analysis was done by SPSS software and using descriptive and analytical statistics. Of 68 cases of Kala-azar, 45 ones were boys and 23 ones were girls with mean age of 52.3 +/- 46.2 months. Most of the cases were in the age group of 1-4 years. The majority of cases [41.2%] belonged to Ball, followed by Jiroft [22.0%], Kahnouj [14.7%] and Sirjan [10.3%]. Most patients were referred to hospitals in winter and mainly during February. Mean duration of clinical symptoms before referring was 31.8 days and mean duration of hospitalization was 12 days. Overall, 65 cases cured completely, while 3 cases died. The mean sedimentation rate was 58 mm/hour and the most common clinical symptoms were fever, and hepato-splenomegaly, respectively. Further studies on reservoirs and vector ecology, particularily in Ball district are required for planning control programs, in the affected areas

Epidemiology of cryptosporidium infection of cattle in kerman/Iran and molecular genotyping of some isolates

Cryptosporidiosis is one of the most important parasitic zoonoses of human and animals. This infection is common in mammals and caused by the coccidian parasites of the genus Cryptosporidium. The Present study was designed to determine the epidemiology of Cryptosporidium infection in cattle in Kerman by using conventional morphological as well as molecular methods for molecular characterization. Fecal samples of cattle were collected fresh and directly from the rectum. Cryptosporidium oocysts were isolated by using formalin-ether sedimentation method followed by modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining technique. DNA of a number of isolates was extracted using QIAamp DNA stool mini kit [Qiagen]. A nested PCR-RFLP protocol amplifying - 850 bp fragment of SSU-rRNA gene used to differentiate species and genotypes of the isolates, using Sspl and Vspl as two restriction endonucleases. For each slide at least 20 oocysts were measured. Seventy eight of 412 cattle [18.9%] were found to be infected. Cryptosporidium infection was associated with diarrhea [P = 0.026] in a way that 31.8% of diarrheic cattle [14.44] and 17.4% of non diarrheic cattle [64.368] were infected. The rate of infection in suckling calves <2 months age was significantly higher than others [45.134 vs. 33.6%, P = 0.000]. In this study 4 isolates of C. andersoni and 8 isolates of C. parvum were found for the first time in Iran by using molecular techniques. Cryptosporidium infection is common in cattle of Kerman. Moreover, in spite of the presence of C.parvum as the dominant species in Iran, the presence of C. andersoni in Iran is reported for the first time by molecular techniques. Economic and public health problems resulted from infection by C.andersoni require more investigations in other parts of Kerman province and Iran

Epidemiology of cutaneous leishmaniasis and it's relationship with blood groups in Bam, 2007

Cutaneous leishmahiasis [CL] is a health problem, especially in tropical and subtropical countries. In spite of new scientific developments in recent years, several questions related to this disease have been raised that have still no answer. The objective of this research was to study the epidemiology of CL and its relationship with blood groups in the city of Bam in 2007. of 3000 suspected CL patients referred to the CL control clinic, 240 patients were randomly selected and after the diagnosis of CL their blood groups and RH factors were determined and recorded in a questionnaire. Similarly 360 volunteers referring to the Blood transfusion center were randomly selected [30 individuals per month] and their blood group and RH factor were determined with a similar method. Data were analyzed by descriptive and analytical statistics and using chi [2] test. Most of the 240 CL patients were in the range group of 16-50 years [65.4%]. In whole, 52.2% of the lesions were on hand and 60% of the patients had single lesion and there was no significant difference between two sexes. There was no significant difference between the case and control groups in regard to the frequency of blood groups and RH. After matching of 108 individuals regarding the sex, age and place of residence, in a case-control study, individuals with AB blood group had been infected 1.3 times more than those with other blood groups, although it was not'Statistically significant. As CL disease is becoming more complex, it is necessary to conduct further clinical basic studies as well as epidemiological cohort observations in endemic areas

Clinical features of cutaneous leishmaniasis and direct PCR-based identification of parasite species in a new focus in southeast of Iran

To clinically characterize the cutaneous leishmaniasis and identify the causative parasite species in Mirjaveh, an important geographical region across the border of Iran-Pakistan at Southeast of Iran. A number of 116 patients during a year since March 2005 to April 2006, subjected to the study. Clinical information collected and scrapings were taken from cutaneous lesions and used for microscopic examination, NNN cultivation and kinetoplast DNA-PCR amplification. The cases comprised of 48 males and 68 females, 84 [72.4%] Iranians and 32 [27.6%] non-Iranians. They aged between 2 months to 68 years with the most affection of children, 0-10 years [55.2%]. The patients presented a total of 248 active lesions with an average of 2.14. The ulcers distributed mostly on upper extremity [42.3%] then on face [32.7%], followed by lower extremity [20.6%] and other parts [4.4%]. The majority of ulcers stated to be developed rapidly, <1 month [40.3%] or 1-2 months [45.2%]. However, from 248 ulcers, only 19 [7.7%] found to be wet and the remaining were dry or moderately wet, 45 [18.1%] and 184 [74.2%], respectively. kDNA-PCR assay detected 51 out of 73 samples, all of which were identified as L. major, the causative agent of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis. L. major is the species responsible for cutaneous leishmaniasis in Mirjaveh, however the pattern of clinical findings, does not completely resemble the ZCL characteristics. These indicate that the manifestation of the lesions may not necessarily correspond to the Leishmania species and may be unreliable to conclude the speciation of parasite without laboratory identification

[ epidemic of cutaneous leishmaniasis in baft district in Kerman province and its probable causative risk factors]

In Iran, cutaneous leishmaniasis [CL] as a health problem is increasing and presenting two epidemiological forms; Zoonotic CL [ZCL] and anthroponotic CL [ACL]. The objective of the present study was to introduce the CL epidemic in Baft district, Kerman province. This study was conducted in 3 villages; Soltanabad, Vakilabad and Shahmaran as a census between spring and autumn of 1998 in Orzoeihe region, Baft district. Various epidemiological aspects of this epidemic including prevalence and related demographic factors, diagnosis by direct smears, identification of the causative species by immunological and biological methods were determined. Population of the 3 villages was 13721; mean 21.8 +/- 13.9 years, 50.7% males and 49.3% females. The prevalence rate of 12.3% with mean age of 16.3 +/- 12.1 years was infected. Most of the cases were in 10-20 years of age and in Soltanabad [30.6%]. The mean number of lesions was 2.58, majority with >/= 2 lesions, frequently located on the legs and hands. No previous history of CL scar was observed. All 100 IFAT, 30 ELISA tests and 18 inoculated mice showed L.major as the overall causative agent. This is the first epidemic of CL occurred in the southern villages of Baft district with high severity in all age and sex groups in a new agricultural region. Probably the source of infection was the new comers who arrived the region from endemic areas for agricultural purposes and infecting the gerbils. Thus, this new agricultural development has created an extraordinary suitable condition for propagation of rodents and sand fly populations, then the occurrence of the new epidemic in rural residence, consequently