Title:First Autochthonous case of Emerged Zoonotic Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Mazandaran Province, Northern Iran: kDNA-PCR Evidence Base
Volume: 21
Issue: 3
Author(s): Fatemeh Niksolat, Rabeeh Tabaripour, Lotfollah Davoodi and Mahdi Fakhar*
Affiliation:
- Department of Parasitology, School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari,Iran
Keywords:
Cutaneous leishmaniasis, case report, diabetes mellitus, autochthonous, L. major, PCR, Iran.
Abstract:
Background: In the last decade, several cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) have
been recorded by the provincial health center of Mazandaran Province, northern Iran. However,
there is no documented report of autochthonous CL in the province yet.
Case Presentation: The patient, a 59-year-old female, known case of diabetes mellitus, lived in
therural area of Kiasar district (in theeastern part of the Mazandaran) with 5 skin lesions suspected
of having vasculitis, without ahistory of traveling to the endemic areas of CL,was admitted to
Imam Khomeini teaching hospital, Sari. To rule out CL, fine needle aspiration(FNA)procedure was
used aseptically for the patient. Laboratory investigations showed Leishman bodies (amastigotes)
by direct smear preparation, and species identification confirmed Leishmania major (L. major) by
polymerase chain reaction (PCR)molecular method. Accordingly, this is the first documented report
of autochthonous CL in Mazandaran Province.
Conclusion: Overall, due to the abundance of probable rodent reservoir hosts and confirmation of
infectionof sandflies (Phlebotomus papatasi) withL. major in the Kiasar district, where our patient
was livingthere, it seems that CL emerged in the eastern part of the province. Therefore, further
studies on rodents and sandflies fauna in terms of emerging leishmanial infection in the area is recommended.