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. 2021 Dec;120(12):4241-4246.
doi: 10.1007/s00436-021-07166-z. Epub 2021 May 4.

Molecular characterization of Leishmania species from stray dogs and human patients in Saudi Arabia

Abdullah D Alanazi  1 , Abdulazi S Alouffi  2 , Mohamed S Alyousif  3 , Abdulsadah A Rahi  4 , Magda A Ali  4 , Hend H A M Abdullah  5 , Fabio A Brayner  6 , Jairo Alfonso Mendoza-Roldan  7 , Marcos Antonio Bezerra-Santos  7 , Domenico Otranto  8   9
Affiliations

Molecular characterization of Leishmania species from stray dogs and human patients in Saudi Arabia

Abdullah D Alanazi et al. Parasitol Res. 2021 Dec.

Abstract

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 they occur in sympatry, the role of each species of Leishmania in the epidemiology of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is not clear. To assess the frequency and to identify the species of Leishmania that infect humans and stray dogs in Riyadh and Al-Qaseem (Saudi Arabia), 311 stray dogs and 27 human patients who were suspected for Leishmania infection were examined for CL by a nested polymerase chain reaction (nPCR). Seven (25.9%) out of 27 human patients scored positive for Leishmania spp. (i.e., L. major in five patients from Riyadh and L. tropica in two patients from Al-Qaseem). Out of 311 dogs, five (1.6%) were infected by L. tropica. Data herein presented demonstrate the occurrence of L. tropica in dogs and humans in Saudi Arabia, as well as the occurrence of L. major in humans.

Keywords: Dogs; Leishmania major; Leishmania tropica; Patients; Saudi Arabia; kDNA; nPCR.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Map showing the location of the study areas in Saudi Arabia
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Maximum likelihood Kinetoplast DNA-based phylogenetic analysis of genotypes identified in this study. Phylogenetic tree highlights the position of Leishmania spp. of the present study (bold) using 2000 bootstrap replicates and Trypanosoma cruzi as outgroup
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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