Interoduction: Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a major health problem in some parts of Iran,which exists as zoonotic and anthroponotic forms in different foci of the country.Following an epidemic of ...cutaneous leishmaniasis in Bafgh city,(Yazd province, centeral Iran),this study was carried out to determine the ecology of sandflies,reservoir hosts and human infection in 2005. Methods: This descriptive-crosss section study was done in the year 2005. Sandflies were collected biweekly from fixed sites of human dwellings and rodent burrows using 30 sticky (oiled) paper traps from the beginning to the active season. Rodents were caught in 20 live traps baited with cucumber biweekly.500 households (2123 persons) in the Bafgh city were randomly selected.All members of the selected households were examined clinically in the end of each season and forms were completed for each households during a house - to - house visit. Results: A total of 1784 sandflies (252from indoors and 1532 from outdoors) were collected. Six species were identified including Phlebotomus papatasi, P.mongolensis, Sergentomyia sintoni, S.theodori, S.dentata, S. baghdadis. The predominant species were P. papatasi in indoors(87.3%)and S.sintoni in rodent burrows (53%) in the studied areas. 39 M. libycus and 3 R.opimus were collected and examined. Both M. libycus and R.opimus were found to be infected with leishmania major.In the population of 2123 individuals in the Bafgh city, prevalence of scars and ulcers was 1.8% and 0.9% respectively. Conclusion: Based on this survey, L.major is the principal agent, M. libycus ,R.opimus are the reservoir hosts and P.papatasi is the probable vector of ZCL in Bafgh city because about 87.3% of indoor sandflies were of these species. Leishmania major was isolated from the caught rodents
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is one of the most important parasitic diseases which is endemic in different parts of Iran. Serological studies were conducted by direct agglutination test (DAT) on 12144 ...human serum samples, collected from four geographical zones of Iran. Sero prevalence, geographical distribution, clinical signs and symptoms for human visceral leishmaniasis based on DAT for the period of 2002 through 2005 were determined. From 516 kala-azar cases detected: 50.6% were from Meshkin-shahr and Moghan districts in Ardabil Province, northwest of Iran and 49.4% were detected from other areas of Iran. In physical examination of seropositive cases, which were detected by DAT with anti-leishmanial antibodies at titers of 1: 3200 to 1: 102400, almost 50% of suspected individuals showed the classical kala-azar signs and symptoms. Predominant signs and symptoms in 233 hospitalized patients with anti-Leishmania antibodies at 1:3200 and higher, were fever (88.0%) and splenomegaly (84.5%). Statistically significant difference was found between males (58%) and females (42%) (P< 0.01). Moreover, 93.6% of the VL patients were < 5 yr of age, and 6.4% were older than 5 yr that this difference was statistically significant (P< 0.01). From 1383 serum samples collected from domestic dogs in the villages that are known as endemic foci of human leishmaniasis, 152 (11.0%) were positive by DAT (≥ 1:320). Parasitological and serological examinations that were performed in 30 wild canines showed that 10% of these animals were infected by L. infantum. L. infantum Lon49 is the principal agent of the disease in human as well as animal reservoir hosts in different parts of Iran. For the first time in Iran, L. tropica isolated from both skin lesions in the face and bone marrow aspiration in a HIV+ man who co-infected with VL as well as in an infected dog from Ardabil Province.
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is one of the most important parasitic diseases which is endemic in different parts of Iran. Serological studies were conducted by direct agglutination test (DAT) on 12144 ...human serum samples, collected from four geographical zones of Iran. Sero prevalence, geographical distribution, clinical signs and symptoms for human visceral leishmaniasis based on DAT for the period of 2002 through 2005 were determined. From 516 kala-azar cases detected: 50.6% were from Meshkin-shahr and Moghan districts in Ardabil Province, northwest of Iran and 49.4% were detected from other areas of Iran. In physical examination of seropositive cases, which were detected by DAT with anti-leishmanial antibodies at titers of 1: 3200 to 1: 102400, almost 50% of suspected individuals showed the classical kala-azar signs and symptoms. Predominant signs and symptoms in 233 hospitalized patients with anti-Leishmania antibodies at 1:3200 and higher, were fever (88.0%) and splenomegaly (84.5%). Statistically significant difference was found between males (58%) and females (42%) (P< 0.01). Moreover, 93.6% of the VL patients were < 5 yr of age, and 6.4% were older than 5 yr that this difference was statistically significant (P< 0.01). From 1383 serum samples collected from domestic dogs in the villages that are known as endemic foci of human leishmaniasis, 152 (11.0%) were positive by DAT (≥ 1:320). Parasitological and serological examinations that were performed in 30 wild canines showed that 10% of these animals were infected by L. infantum. L. infantum Lon49 is the principal agent of the disease in human as well as animal reservoir hosts in different parts of Iran. For the first time in Iran, L. tropica isolated from both skin lesions in the face and bone marrow aspiration in a HIV+ man who co-infected with VL as well as in an infected dog from Ardabil Province.
This cross-sectional study was designed to isolate of Leishmania spp from cutaneous leishmaniasis patients and characterized them by RAPD-PCR technique. Eighty- seven Leishmania isolates from 112 ...samples were collected from cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) patients who referred to Mashhad Health Centers from August 2002 to May 2004. Desirable samples (87 isolates) were characterized by RAPD-PCR method using four selected oligoprimers. Electrophoresis patterns from each isolate were compared with reference strains of L. major, L. tropica and L. infantum. The results showed that 94.2% and 5.8% of isolates were similar to L.tropica and L.major reference strain, respectively. Four isolates that were determined by RAPD-PCR as L.major, could produce ulcer at the base tail of BALB/c mice, 4 - 12 weeks after inoculation but none of L. tropica isolates produced any lesions at the site of injection in the animals. The results indicate that L. tropica species are dominant in the studied areas of Mashhad city and RAPD-PCR technique is a suitable tool for Leishmania characterization in epidemiological studies.
An outbreak of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania major was identified in Ghanavat rural district, Qom province, central Iran, during 1999-2001. Among 1069 inhabitants examined in ...Dec. 1999, 5.14% showed evidence of active lesions and 12.44% had scar indicative of past infection. The most highly infected age group was 5-9 years old for ulcers with a rate of 6.56%. The incidence of the disease was calculated as 2.7% and 1.4% in 2000 and 2001 respectively. Meriones libycus (66.7%), Nesokia indica (27.3%) and Hemechinus aurithis (6%) were present around the district. No leishmanial infection was seen in the slides. Meriones libycus is the probable reservoir host of the disease in the area. Sixteen dogs appeared to be uninfected because examination showed no active lesion or scar. Most probably Phlebotomus papatasi is the vector because 81.53% of indoor sand flies were of this species. The active season of P.papatasi was from late April to early October in indoors. The occurrence of this outbreak of ZCL in the district seems to be the result of construction of buildings near colonies of rodents and also traveling to other infected foci of Iran.
In this study, 16 eligible dogs were randomly divided in to 4 groups. Group 1, 2, 3 and 4 received autoclaved Leishmania infantum with BCG (ALI+BCG), autoclaved Leishmania major + BCG (ALM + BCG), ...BCG alone and normal saline, respectively. Dogs received the vaccines intradermally 3 times at 30 days intervals. All dogs were followed up 2 months intervals by Leishmanin skin test and Anti -Leishmania immunoenzymatic assay (ELISA) and Direct Agglutination Test (DAT) for detection of IgG and 1gM antibodies in collected blood samples. Ninety days after third dose, all dogs received an intraperitoneal challenge of 2.5 x 106 infective promastigotes of Leishmania infantum. After 7 months of follow up, necropsy was performed in all dogs to detect the parasites. Result of this study showed that all the dogs in unvaccinated groups were infected with L.infantum but in vaccinated groups, only one dog was infected.
An outbreak of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania major was identified in Ghanavat rural district, Qom province, central Iran, during 1999-2001. Among 1069 inhabitants examined in ...Dec. 1999, 5.14% showed evidence of active lesions and 12.44% had scar indicative of past infection. The most highly infected age group was 5-9 years old for ulcers with a rate of 6.56%. The incidence of the disease was calculated as 2.7% and 1.4% in 2000 and 2001 respectively. Meriones libycus (66.7%), Nesokia indica (27.3%) and Hemechinus aurithis (6%) were present around the district. No leishmanial infection was seen in the slides. Meriones libycus is the probable reservoir host of the disease in the area. Sixteen dogs appeared to be uninfected because examination showed no active lesion or scar. Most probably Phlebotomus papatasi is the vector because 81.53% of indoor sand flies were of this species. The active season of P.papatasi was from late April to early October in indoors. The occurrence of this outbreak of ZCL in the district seems to be the result of construction of buildings near colonies of rodents and also traveling to other infected foci of Iran.
Background & Objectives: This study aimed to determine of the seroprevalence of visceral leishmaniasis to design a prevention and control program in Bojnoord district. Methods: This was a descriptive ...and cross sectional study with multistage random sampling method. The study was carried out on children up to 12 years old and 10% of adult’s population in 8 rural areas of Bojnoord district in 2007. In total, 1608 blood samples were collected to detect anti-Leishmania antibodies. All the samples were tested by direct agglutination test (DAT). In order to determine Leishmania species, necropsy was performed on four suspected dogs in the studied areas. The species of Leishmania was determined by RAPD-PCR and PCR-RFLP methods using to amplify the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1). Results: Thirty and eight (2.36%) out of 1608 collected blood samples had anti-Leishmania antibodies at titer 1:800 and nine (0.56%) were just positive at 1:3200 by DAT. There was no statistically significant difference between female and male seroprevalence (p<0/05). The seoprevalence in children <=12 years old compared to individuals greater than 12 years old did not show any statistically significant (p<0/05). Amastigotes were observed in all 4 necropsied dogs. The species of Leishmania isolated from 2 dogs, was determined as L.Infantum. Their ITS1 sequences were registered with Accession numbers EU810776 and EU810777 in NCBI.Conclusions: These findings showed that visceral leishmaniasis has been circulated with low endemicity in Bojnoord district. Therefore an appropriate monitoring system is needed for health services in this area.
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