title: Leishmaniasis in Turkey: molecular characterization of Leishmania from human and canine clinical samples.
abstract: Human leishmaniasis, both visceral and cutaneous, and canine leishmaniasis have been reported in Turkey for centuries. However, the advent of new diagnostic tools during the last 30 years has led to the recognition that leishmaniasis is an important public health problem throughout the country. In most disease foci both canine and human leishmaniases exist together and identification of parasite species causing these diseases is a pre-requisite for understanding disease epidemiology. A total of 109 samples obtained from human and canine leishmaniasis cases were examined using internal transcribed spacer 1 PCR followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Our results indicate that two species, Leishmania tropica and Leishmania infantum, are primarily responsible for cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis, respectively, in Turkey. However, a new focus of human cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by L. infantum in Hatay region is described. This finding further stresses the importance of Leishmania species molecular characterization in prescribing appropriate therapy and understanding the disease's transmission in different endemic foci.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Ege University Medical School, Bornova, Izmir, Turkey. seray.ozensoy.toz@ege.edu.tr
authors.forename: Seray Ozensoy
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Toz
authors.forename: Abedelmajeed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nasereddin
authors.forename: Yusuf
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ozbel
authors.forename: Hatice
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ertabaklar
authors.forename: Gulnaz
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Culha
authors.forename: Naser
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sevil
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ziya Alkan
authors.forename: Charles L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Jaffe
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000032:analysis; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000469:parasitology*; D004285:Dogs; D006801:Humans; D018314:Leishmania infantum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007895:Leishmania tropica / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016773:Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000662:veterinary; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000662:veterinary; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014421:Turkey
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan