It is grateful to see that the new session “Readers’ opinion and discussion” created after my comments – “Leishmania infantum versus Leishmania chagasi: do not forget the law of priority” (Dantas-Torres 2006) – on the concise review article of Lainson and Rangel (2005) has emerged as the basis of an interesting debate on the aetiological agent of American visceral leishmaniasis, i.e., the taxon...

visceral leishmaniasis (kala-azar) is a serious health problem in some northern and south western parts of iran. the incidence of kala-azar caused by leishmania infantum has recently increased in nourabad-mamassani district of fars province, in the south of the country. this study was designed to determine the role of asymptomatic dogs as host reservoir of l. infantum in this new formed focus a...

Canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) is endemic in northwestern Iran. This study aimed to compare real-time PCR, conventional PCR, and the direct agglutination test (DAT) for the diagnosis Leishmania infantum infection in 167 serum samples of domestic dog. Bone marrow was used for parasitological examination (smears and/or culture) in symptomatic visceral leishmaniasis, and serum was used for de...

backgrounds and aims: the protozoan parasites of the genus leishmania can be stated as the causative agents of the various clinical diseases. fetal calf serum (fcs) is the major part of the leishmania culture media, which is the most expensive ingredient in these media. the coconut water is packed with nutrients that yield an array of health benefits. materials and methods: in the present study...

Development of Leishmania infantum/Leishmania major hybrids was studied in two sand fly species. In Phlebotomus papatasi, which supported development of L. major but not L. infantum, the hybrids produced heavy late-stage infections with high numbers of metacyclic promastigotes. In the permissive vector Lutzomyia longipalpis, all Leishmania strains included in this study developed well. Hybrids ...

INTRODUCTION: The sand fly, Lutzomyia longipalpis, is the main vector of Leishmania infantum in the Americas, primarily occurring in areas of apparent anthropomorphic modifications in several regions of Brazil. METHODS Sand flies were captured using light traps. RESULTS Out of all captured species, Lu. longipalpis numbers had increased within the park. CONCLUSIONS We report the occurrenc...

Leishmania infantum is the most frequent cause of visceral leishmaniasis and L. tropica has been rarely linked to the disease in Iran. In this study, bone marrow aspirates were collected from 10 child patients, suspected with visceral leishmaniasis referred to the Pediatric Wards of Kerman Medical Hospitals, Kerman, Iran during 2002-2011. Leishmania species were identified by using nested PCR i...

Canine leishmaniosis (CanL) is caused by the parasite Leishmania infantum and is a systemic disease, which can present with variable clinical signs, and clinicopathological abnormalities. Clinical manifestations can range from subclinical infection to very severe systemic disease. Leishmaniosis is categorized as a neglected tropical disease and the complex immune responses associated with Leish...

Visceral leishmaniasis, a protozoan disease caused by Leishmania infantum, is endemic in the Mediterranean basin, especially southern and Tyrrhenian Italy. Its aetiological agent can also sporadically cause isolated laryngeal localization in at-risk patients (i.e., heavy smokers, immunocompromised patients). This rare localization is often pauci-symptomatic and thus can easily escape diagnosis....

Over a period of more than 10 years we have isolated and classified 161 Leishmania strains from cases of human visceral, cutaneous and mucosal leishmaniasis in immunocompetent subjects, from cases of visceral leishmaniasis in immunocompromised individuals with HIV, from dogs with leishmaniasis (visceral and cutaneous), from Rattus rattus and from sandflies. The strains were all L. infantum, the...