Meriones libycus and Nesokia indica as the Main and Secondary Reservoirs of Zoonotic Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in an Endemic Area in Central Iran

Background: Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) is an important vector-borne disease in Iran with more than 20,000 cases annually. Qom Province has endemic foci for the disease.Objectives: The aim of this study was to find Leishmania infection in rodents of selected areas of Qom Province.Materials and Methods: Sherman live traps were used for trapping rodents in 7 stations during 2013-2014. Captured rodents were identified using morphological keys. Smears were prepared from both ears of each rodent and were examined by optical microscope. RFLP-PCR test was used to detect Leishmania infection in all smears.Results: Using 261 traps 43 rodents were collected and identified as Meriones libycus (69.77%) and Nesokia indica (30.23%). Leishmania major was detected in 7 rodents (One N. indica and 6 M. libycus) by PCR method. Three isolates from M. libycus were found to be Leishmania turanica. All microscopic tested were negative.Conclusion: This is the first report of L. major infection of N. indica in Qom Province. Meriones libycus and N. indica are reported as the main and secondary reservoir hosts of ZCL in Iran. These rodents are active in different areas of Qom Province, so it is recommended to monitor the active colonies of these rodents and eliminate them on the outskirts of the province

کلیدواژه ها:

Cutaneous Leishmaniasis ، Meriones libycus ، Nesokia indica ، Reservoir ، Iran