Zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) due to Leishmania major (Yakimoff and Schokhor, 1914) (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae) is known as a neglected tropical disease, transmitted by Phlebotomus papatasi (Scopoli, 1786) (Diptera: Psychodidae) in North Africa and the Middle East. The main reservoirs of ZCL are desert gerbils and the role of humans as a reservoir host of the disease is not clearly defined and is therefore investigated in this study. In order to achieve this objective, Ph. papatasi sand flies were allowed to take blood through indirect blood sources (human, Rhombomys opimus (Lichtenstein, 1823) (Rodentia: cricetidae) (great gerbil), and BALB/c mice) using artificial feeding or direct xenodiagnoses from ZCL patients. To detect Leishmania promastigotes inside digestive canal, blood-fed sand flies were dissected and examined under light microscope and then confirmed by nested-PCR. In indirect xenodiagnoses, promastigote forms of Leishmania parasite were observed in 7.1%, 12%, and 13.6% of sand flies which fed on Rh. opimus, BALB/c mice, or human blood sources, respectively. In direct xenodiagnoses, among 93 female lab-reared sand flies which fed on active L. major lesion(s), 2.1% Leishmania infection was subsequently observed in the sand flies. No infection was detected in those sand flies that fed on nonlesioned skin of CL patients. Humans can serve as a reservoir of ZCL since the data indicate that Ph. papatasi is able to acquire L. major parasites from an active lesion of ZCL patients and the parasites can complete metacyclogenesis in the sand fly.
How to translate text using browser tools
21 June 2018
The Potential Role of Humans in the Transmission Cycle of Leishmania major (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae), the Causative Agent of the Old World Zoonotic Cutaneous Leishmaniasis
Mahboubeh Fatemi,
Mohammad Reza Yaghoobi-Ershadi,
Mehdi Mohebali,
Zahra Saeidi,
Arshad Veysi,
Fatemeh Gholampour,
Behnaz Akhoundi,
Ameneh Karimi,
Mohammad Hossein Arandian,
Akram Mir Amin Mohammadi,
Yavar Rassi,
Alireza Zahraei-Ramazani,
Ali Khamesipour,
Amir Ahmad Akhavan
ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE
It is not available for individual sale.
This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
It is not available for individual sale.
![](/ContentImages/journals/ment/55/6/6/WebImages/171.055.0600.cover.jpg)
Journal of Medical Entomology
Vol. 55 • No. 6
November 2018
Vol. 55 • No. 6
November 2018
artificial feeding
human reservoir
Leishmania
Phlebotomus
zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis