Kala-azar in Iran

ABSTRACT

From 1949 when the first case of Kala-azar was reported in Iran, to the end of 1988, at least 1361 diagnosed cases of this disease have been reported or recorded from all 24 provinces of the country. Visceral leishmaniasis is present in endemic form in the two provinces of Fars and East- Azerbaijan. In other provinces sporadic cases of Kala-azar have been found so far. The disease has been found mostly among children up to eight years of age 96.5% in endemic focus of E.Azerbaijan and 80.8% in the sporadic cases, with a significant difference. The peak percentages of the number of the patients were 50% in the age group of 1-2 years in the endemic focus and 30% in the age group of 3-4 years in the sporadic cases. The percentages of the males among the Kala- azar patients of the endemic focus and sporadic cases were 59.1% and 64.1% respectively, with no statistically significant difference. It has been found in the endemic focus of East- Azerbaijan province, that females are affected as much as males. Domestic and stray dogs as well as wild carnivores such as jackals and foxes have been found infected viscerally with Leishmania. It seems that dogs are the main sources of infection for human visceral leishmaniasis in Iran, particularly in the endemic focus of E.Azerbaijan. The species of the sandfly vector has not been determined yet. Phlebotomus major is considered to be the main vector in most parts of the country. Ph.kandelakii can also be a suspected vector of visceral leishmaniasis in the endemic focus of East Azerbaijan province