An Updated Geographical Distribution of Leishmania Species Involved in Human Leishmaniasis in Colombia

Abstract

Leishmaniasis in an endemic disease in Colombia. This country ranks second in number of cases of leishmaniasis in Latin America and is one of the four countries with the largest number of Leishmania species. Although leishmaniasis is a notifiable disease, the information about the geographic distribution of Leishmania species circulating in the country is fragmented. Since 1990, when the first distribution map was published in Colombia, very few new reports have described the Leishmania species present in Colombia and their geographic distribution. In this report we included 1,833 natural isolates obtained from human cases of leishmaniasis. Their geographical origin together with those reported by other authors let us confirm the presence of Leishmania species in 30 of 32 Colombian departments, being Quindío and San Andres/Providencia free of transmission. In this work, L. braziliensis is described for first time in the departments of Atlántico, Caldas and Vaupes and L. panamensis in the departments of Guajira and Vaupés. It is also confirmed that L. panamensis and L. braziliensis coexist in the same regions being the main causative agents of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Colombia; nonetheless, L. panamensis predominates in the north and western regions whereas L. braziliensis predominates in the southeast region.