title: Leishmania infecting man and wild animals in Saudi Arabia. 6. Cutaneous leishmaniasis of man in the south-west.
abstract: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is common on the high plateaux and foothills of the Asir range in the south-west of Saudi Arabia and Yemen. In 1987 1198 and 1104 cases were reported among the Saudi populations of Asir and Al-Baha provinces, representing an estimated annual incidence of 12 and 38 per 10,000 respectively. The incidence rises from October to December, then declines to a minimum between May and August. The prevalence of Phlebotomus sergenti, a proven local vector in the highlands, is roughly in inverse proportion. Cases occur at all ages, over 60% have only a single lesion, and the head and neck are most commonly affected. Apart from a few patients who develop leishmaniasis recidivans, most respond well to sodium stibogluconate, or self-heal. Of 44 isolates typed by isoenzyme electrophoresis, 42 were Leishmania tropica belonging to 5 distinctive zymodemes. LON-72 (34 isolates), LON-73 (1), LON-71 (2) and LON-10 (2) were found at altitudes around 2000 m, 3 of them in a single village. Three isolates of LON-63 were found at altitudes between 600 and 1000 m in widely separated foci. L. tropica LON-10 and LON-71 have been isolated also from P. sergenti from highland foci. LON-72 failed to produce lesions in BALB/c mice and gave rise to only transitory lesions in the footpads of hamsters.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: al-Zahrani
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ching Chin
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D002980:Climate; D006224:Cricetinae; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000254:growth & development; D007895:Leishmania tropica / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007896:Leishmaniasis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D008297:Male; D008647:Mesocricetus; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D010691:Phlebotomus / Q000254:growth & development; D015995:Prevalence; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D012621:Seasons; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology