The epidemiology of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Ethiopia

Parasites indistinguishable from those causing cutaneous leishmaniasis of man in Ethiopia were found in 3 widely separated localities in rock hyrax and phlebotomid sandflies. A close association between hyrax and the sandflies was demonstrated both in cliff and tree habitats. Procavia habessinica and Heterohyrax brucei were both shown to be reservoirs of the disease, and are thought to be the only significant ones. Phlebotomus longipes and P. pedifer are the vectors. Man intrudes on the hyrax/sandfly cycle, but in no way sustains it, and is an incidental host. This distinctive epidemiological system is thought to occur throughout the range of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Ethiopia.