Study of Certain Epidemiological Aspects of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Khatam County, Yazd Province,Iran

Zoonotic Cutaneous leishmaniasis(ZCL) is one of the most important parasitic diseases in Iran and common in rural districts of half of the 30 provinces of the country. In recent years, ZCL has become a serious and increasing public health problem in Yazd province. Following the epidemic of CL in Khatam county of Yazd province, this study was carried out to determine the animal reservoir hosts and human infection in 2005-2006.

300 households were examined in February 2006 and corresponding forms were completed for each household during a house-to-house visit. Rodents were caught by 20 live traps, biweekly from late August to late November 2006.The rodents were identified morphologically and 4 impression smears were prepared from the edge of their ear lobes. The causative agent of the disease was isolated from humans and rodents characterized by RAPD-PCR method.

The rate of ulcers and scars of ZCL among the inhabitants was4.8% and 9.8%, respectively. Leishmania major was also isolated from human indigenous cases in Khatam County. In the study, Meriones libycus, Tatera indica and Rhombomys opimus were recorded and all of them were infected with leishmaniasis. Leishmania major was isolated and identified from R.opimus, too.

Regarding the results of the present study, ZCL is prevalent in Khatam .It seems that R.opimus is the main reservoir host of the disease and M.libycus and T.indica also maintain this ZCL focus