Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a neglected clinical form of public health importance that is quite prevalent in the northern and eastern parts of Egypt. A comprehensive study over seven years (January 2005-December 2011) was conducted to track CL transmission with respect to both sandfly vectors and animal reservoirs. The study identified six sandfly species collected from different districts in North Sinai:
Phlebotomus papatasi
,
Phlebotomus kazeruni
,
Phlebotomus sergenti
,
Phlebotomus alexandri
,
Sergentomyia antennata
and
Sergentomyia clydei
.
Leishmania (-)-like flagellates were identified in 15
P. papatasi individuals (0.5% of 3,008 dissected females). Rodent populations were sampled in the same districts where sandflies were collected and eight species were identified:
Rattusnorvegicus
(n = 39),
Rattus rattus frugivorous
(n = 13),
Rattus rattus alexandrinus
(n = 4),
Gerbillus pyramidum floweri
(n = 38),
Gerbillus andersoni
(n = 28),
Mus musculus
(n = 5),
Meriones sacramenti
(n = 22) and
Meriones crassus
(n = 10). Thirty-two rodents were found to be positive for
Leishmania infection (20.12% of 159 examined rodents). Only
Leishmania major was isolated and identified in 100% of the parasite samples. The diversity of both the vector and rodent populations was examined using diversity indices and clustering approaches.
