CUTANIOUS LEISMANIASIS IN

Abstract

This paper is a brief review of what has been carried out on the epidemiology of coetaneous Leishmaniasis in Mashad Research Station during the period 1964 through 1967. According to these studies; nine different foci of the disease exist in the province of Khorassan. The disease is of urban type in the city of Mashad and of rural type in Sarakhs and Lotfabad areas. The epidemiological type of the disease is not yet known in other foci. In the urban focus of Mashad, the main reservoir of the disease is dog and its vector Ph. Sergenti. Average duration of disease is about one year. The prevalence is about the same all the year round. The incidence in highly infected areas reaches 138 per thousand per year. In the rural foci, the main reservoirs of the disease are gerbils (Rhombomys oplmus and Meriones libycus erythrbumus its vectors are Ph. papatasi and sand-flies of the coucasious group. Average duration of the disease is about. 6 months. The prevalence differs according to the season, being maximum in December and almost zero In May. The incidence of the disease had been 86 per thousand per year during the study period. There exist 18 species of Phlebotomus and 11 species of Sergentomyia in the province of Khorassan. In Mashad and Lotfabad sandflies all active from late May through early October and they are susceptible to DDT and Dieldrin.