Eight cutaneous leishmaniasis cases detected in Karamay, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous region, China.

Whether cutaneous leishmaniasis exists in China is a problem of concern in the international field of parasitology. Zhang and Hu (1983) found a girl aged 15 with mild hepatomegaly and cutaneous ulcer on her right cheek in Shawan County of Xinj­ iang; Leishmania was detected in both the exudates and biopsy tissues, but the parasite was not detected in a bone marrow smear. Notwithstanding the fact that visceral leishmaniasis (VL) had never been reported in the locality, the authors deemed that the dermal lesion was induced by Leishmania donovani, hence named it as dermal 'leishmaniasis donovani: Ren and Cui (1984) reported 8 'cutaneous leishmaniasis cases' in petrol workers in Karamay, but though parasitological examinations of the tissue smears of the lesions were performed several times by some veteran parasitologists, Leishmania still could not be found.