title: Molecular epidemiological study of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Beni Mellal and Fquih Ben Saleh provinces in Morocco.
abstract: Leishmaniases are parasitic diseases frequent in the Mediterranean Basin. Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) has been recently emerged in several new foci, causing a public health problem in Morocco. This study was performed to evaluate the epidemiological status of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in Beni Mellal and Fquih Ben Saleh Provinces and to identify the causative agent. A total of 584 (56% female, 44% male) confirmed cases of CL were enrolled during the study period 2000-2012. Majority of cases (56%) were recorded in three sectors: Zaouiat Cheikh, Beni Mellal and Oulad Ayad. Fisher statistical test showed that there is a significant effect of the total cases of CL affected in the 185 localities. The age distribution of CL cases was relatively stable, with the majority of patients (62.34%) aged less than 9 years old with significant differences (p-value<2.2e-16). CL lesions were mostly located on the face (89%). The average number of lesions per patient was 1.38. Leishmania tropica was identified as the causative agent based on species-specific ITS1-PCR-RFLP assay.
authors.affiliation: National Reference Laboratory of Leishmaniasis, National Institute of Hygiene, Rabat, Morocco; Sciences and Techniques Faculty, Sultan Moulay Slimane University, Beni Mellal, Morocco. Electronic address: sebti.faiza@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Sebti
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Faiza
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbial Biotechnology, Sciences and Techniques Faculty, Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah University, Fes, Morocco.
authors.forename: Hmamouch
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Asmae
authors.affiliation: National Reference Laboratory of Leishmaniasis, National Institute of Hygiene, Rabat, Morocco.
authors.forename: Amarir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fatima
authors.affiliation: Statistic Team, Agronomical and Veterinary Institute Hassan II, Rabat, Morocco.
authors.forename: Fahmi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Afafe
authors.affiliation: National Reference Laboratory of Leishmaniasis, National Institute of Hygiene, Rabat, Morocco.
authors.forename: Delouane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bouchra
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Parasitology, University El Quds, Jerusalem, Palestine, Israel.
authors.forename: Abbasi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ibrahim
authors.affiliation: Sciences Faculty, Mohamed V University, Rabat, Morocco.
authors.forename: Sadak
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abderrahim
authors.affiliation: Sciences and Techniques Faculty, Sultan Moulay Slimane University, Beni Mellal, Morocco.
authors.forename: Habbari
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Khalid
authors.affiliation: National Reference Laboratory of Leishmaniasis, National Institute of Hygiene, Rabat, Morocco.
authors.forename: Rhajaoui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mohamed
authors.affiliation: National Reference Laboratory of Leishmaniasis, National Institute of Hygiene, Rabat, Morocco.
authors.forename: Fellah
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hajiba
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007895:Leishmania tropica / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016773:Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D009018:Morocco / Q000453:epidemiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D013045:Species Specificity; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan
keywords: Beni Mellal province; Cutaneous leishmaniasis; Fquih Ben Saleh province; ITS1-PCR-RFLP; Leishmania tropica; Morocco