First detection of Leishmania infantum in Phlebotomus kandelakii using molecular methods in North-Eastern Islamic Republic of Iran

Shirvan district in north-eastern Islamic Republic of Iran is a new focus of visceral leishmaniasis. This study aimed to identify the vector [s], the parasite and the species composition of sand flies in the district during July-September 2009 using polymerase chain reaction techniques. In all, 2088 sand flies were collected from 3 villages. Nine sand fly species were identified: Phlebotomus kandeiakii [Shchurenkova], P. major [Annandale], P. halepensis [Theodor], P. popatasi [Scopoli], P. sergentl [Parrot], P. longidoctus [Parrot], P. caucasicus [Marzinovsky], Sergentomyia sintoni [Pringle] and S. sumbarica [Perfii'ev]. P. sergentl and P. kandetakii were the most prevalent Phlebotomus species at 31.3% and 10.0% respectively. Of 59 female P. kandelokll, 2 [3.4%] were naturally infected with L infantum. This is the first finding of natural infection of P. kandelakii by L infantum in this region suggesting P. kandelakii may be the vector of L infantum in the area although it is the second most prevalent phlebotomine species

Some epidemiological aspects of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Northern Khorasan Province, Iran

Cutaneous leishmaniasis [CL] is a widespread tropical infection which has a high incidence rate in Iran. The aim of this study was to determine some epidemiological aspects of disease in Northern Khorasan Province, Iran. From 2005 to 2008, data concerning 1453 patients with CL were collected and analyzed from the different districts of health service registry of the province. The statistical analyses were carried out with SPSS version 12.0 for windows. The highest number of patients was in 2005 with 555 cases in this year. 19.3% of patients aged younger than 5- year and 57.5% were older than 15 year. 37.8% had only one lesion, and 40.55 had at least three lesions. The highest incidence of disease was observed in Jajarm district in 2005 [381.1 per 100,000], and the lowest incidence rate was in Farouj district in the same year. The disease was observed in all months of the year with the highest incidence rate from September to November. Although Jajrm is a known foci in Iran, based on our knowledge there is no report in the literature on assessing the prevalence of CL in this region in recent years. We also found that the disease is endemic in Northern Khorasan Province