Identification of Leishmania tropica from micro-foci of cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Kenyan Rift Valley

Abstract

We performed diagnosis and species identification of parasites in lesion samples from suspected cutaneous leishmaniasis patients in four villages, three of which are in a known Leishmania tropica endemic region in Kenya. Samples were analyzed both by microscopy and PCR for Leishmania, and typed by an assay using four ribosomal DNA-based species-identification PCRs. The lesions were demonstrated to be caused by L. tropica, which confirms the re-emergence of cutaneous leishmaniasis from this species after a period of reduced incidence in the endemic zone. Our report highlights the importance of an intervention and sustained Leishmania control program.

Keywords:

• Diagnosis
• Kenya
• Leishmania tropica
• PCR
• Molecular typing

We thank Simonne De Doncker for technical assistance. The study was supported by funds from the European Union’s sixth Framework Program INCO-CT-2005-015379 (TRYLEIDIAG project) and the Belgian Directorate General for Development Cooperation (DGDC) through the third framework agreement with the Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp. TRYLEIDIAG funded the research while DGDC provided salary (GVDA) and scholarship (SO) support.