Isolation and identification of the parasite causing cutaneous leishmaniasis in man

Leishmania tropica (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae) - a perplexing parasite

“…In Greece, which has had a long history of leishmaniases, reports confirm that the cutaneous leishmaniasis found in rural areas on the mainland, Crete and some Ionian islands was due to L. tropica (Adler et al 1938, Garifallou et al 1984. In Saudi Arabia, the disease is endemic in the south-western part of the country with 4,500 cases reported in 1988, mainly from the Asir plateaux, 2,000 m above sea level (AlZahrani et al 1989).…”

Leishmaniases in Greece

“…1,37,38 During the last 35 years, the disease has spread to most parts of Greece because of L. infantum, causing VL and CanL and to L. tropica, causing CL. [39][40][41] During 2005-2010, 327 human leishmaniasis cases (297 VL and 30 CL) were reported in the country. Autochthonous human VL cases were reported in 41/54 prefectures ( Figure 2) the majority in the Attiki prefecture (mostly in the city of Athens, which is an endemic VL area) 42 with the maximum number (72) in the year 2007 (HCDCP).…”

“…[39][40][41] Strains, isolated from CL patients from the Ionian Islands and Crete in the early 1980s, were typed as L. tropica MON-57. 56 Yet, zymodeme MON-300, found for the first time in Crete, was isolated from a 64-year-old woman who reported that she was infected at childhood, like a great number of her fellow villagers.…”

Spread of Vector-borne Diseases and Neglect of Leishmaniasis, Europe

“…On the other hand, L. tropica, which has more stringent requirements in terms of vector, would need P. sergenti, which was reported in several places in southern Europe, from Portugal (18) to Cyprus (19). L. tropica was indeed encountered in Greece (20), and according to a very recent report, the fi rst autochthonous cases of L. donovani in Europe have been detected in Cyprus (21). The clinical phenotype associated with both species needs also to be considered for an exhaustive risk evaluation.…”