Molecular characterization of Leishmania tropica and Leishmania major from stray dogs and patients in Saudi Arabia

Abstract Background: Leishmania major and Leishmania tropica cause cutaneous leishmaniasis in humans and dogs in several parts of the world, with a large number of cases recorded in the Middle East. However, when occurring in sympatry, the role of each species of Leishmania in the epidemiology of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is not clear. Methods: To determine the prevalence and to identify the species of Leishmania that infects humans and stray dogs in Riyadh and Al-Qassim (Saudi Arabia), 311 stray dogs and 27 human patients, suspected for Leishmania, were examined for CL by a nested PCR (nPCR).Results: Nested PCR (nPCR) detected seven patients (25.9%) positive for cutaneous leishmaniasis. Five patients from Riyadh were infected by L. major and two from Al-Qassim by L. tropica. In addition, five dogs (1.6%) were infected by L. tropica. Conclusions: This is one of the first molecular studies of leishmaniasis from Saudi Arabia. The relationship between the sand fly vectors and the reservoirs of both Leishmania spp. is still scarcely known in this region, and further epidemiological investigations of domestic and wild canids infected with L. major and L. tropica are needed towards a control and prevention of the infection in canine and human populations.