Abstract
Algeria ranks second after Afghanistan for the incidence of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) worldwide. Here, we report a 34-years retrospective analysis of CL in Algeria and focused on the most affected region, the M’Sila province. All 66 cutaneous isolates corresponded to Leishmania (L.) major. Our study of the sandfly and rodent fauna further highlighted the high density of Phlebotomus papatasi and additional phlebotomine species of medical importance, not previously identified in M’Sila. Wild rodents belonging to nine species were trapped in M’Sila, and Psammomys obesus and Meriones shawi were found infected by L. major. In addition, Leishmania infantum was isolated from two visceral leishmaniasis cases, one dog and its proven vectors (P. perniciosus, P. longicuspis, and P. perfiliewi) inventoried during the survey. The high incidence of CL in the M’Sila province is likely a consequence of the increase in minimum temperatures recorded that constitutes suitable conditions for establishing a high endemicity and leads to an explosive rise in leishmaniases cases in this region. A thorough investigation of the underlying risk factors is urgently needed to detect new cases earlier. All these would improve the preparedness to fight the disease.
Highlights
From 1982 to 2017 (34-year period), more than a quarter of a million cases (252,659) of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) were registered in the country (Figure 4A)
Since 1982, the dynamics of CL reveals an endemic-epidemicity status of the disease, with several peaks observed, the most critical being in 2005 with more than 25,511 cases recorded in the country (Figure 5B)
Zoonotic CL caused by L. major is highly prevalent in the M’Sila region for more than years, with an average of around 3000 cases per year
Summary
Algeria ranks second after Afghanistan in cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) incidence [1]. Confined in the high plateaus’ steppe regions in the semi-arid and arid bioclimatic zones [2,3], CL has undergone a worrying geographic extension toward the north of Algeria [4]. Such an expansion occurs in the Maghreb and the Middle East [1,5,6,7]. Cutaneous leishmaniasis is first described in 1860 in Algeria [9] and 1924 in the Hodna basin [10]
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