Geographical distribution and epidemiological features of Old World cutaneous leishmaniasis foci, based on the isoenzyme analysis of 1048 strains.

A series of 1048 Leishmania strains from Old World cutaneous leishmaniasis foci, isolated between 1981 and 2005, were studied by isoenzyme analysis. The strains were obtained from humans, rodents, dogs and sandflies from 33 countries. The four typically dermotropic species, Leishmania major, L.

Isoenzymatic analysis of 712 strains of Leishmania infantum in the south of France and relationship of enzymatic polymorphism to clinical and epidemiological features.

In the south of France, leishmaniasis due to Leishmania infantum occurs in the following five foci of endemicity (from west to east): Pyrénées-Orientales, Cévennes, Provence, Côte d'Azur, and Corsica. Between 1981 and 2002, 712 Leishmania strains obtained from humans, dogs, cats, and sand flies were studied by isoenzyme analysis. In total, seven zymodemes were identified: MON-1, MON-11, MON-24, MON-29, MON-33, MON-34, and MON-108.

A previously unclassified trypanosomatid responsible for human cutaneous lesions in Martinique (French West Indies) is the most divergent member of the genus Leishmania ss.

Two cases of skin lesions similar to those caused by Leishmania parasites have been reported from Martinique. Parasites isolated from these lesions were unlike Leishmania reference strains by isoenzyme analysis and electron microscopy and were assumed to be monoxenous trypanosomatids which normally only infect invertebrates. Both strains have now been retyped by isoenzyme analysis and found to be identical to each other and distantly related to all other Leishmania species.

Sudan: the possible original focus of visceral leishmaniasis.

Fifty-two Leishmania strains, obtained from human patients and dogs in a visceral leishmaniasis focus in Sudan, were characterized by isoenzyme electrophoresis (15 enzymes). The phylogenetic analysis showed that the 7 Leishmania zymodemes obtained hold ancestral positions on the phylogenetic tree, supporting the hypothesis of an East African origin of visceral leishmaniasis.

Enzymatic polymorphism and phylogenetic relationships in Leishmania Ross, 1903 (Sarcomastigophora: Kinetoplastida): a case study in Colombia.

Leishmaniasis is widespread in Colombia and is found in 30 of 32 Departments. More than 200 infection zones have been reported from different regions, which vary from sea-level to an altitude of 2,300 m along the Atlantic Coast, Pacific coast, Amazon basin, Cauca and Magdalena valleys. We report 76 Leishmania stocks isolated from humans, dogs and phlebotomine hosts.