Geographical distribution and epidemiological features of Old WorldLeishmania infantumandLeishmania donovanifoci, based on the isoenzyme analysis of 2277 strains

Abstract

SUMMARYA series of 2277Leishmaniastrains from Old World visceral leishmaniasis foci, isolated between 1973 and 2008, were studied by isoenzyme analysis. The strains were obtained from humans, domestic and wild carnivores, rodents and phlebotomine sandflies, and came from 36 countries. In all, 60 different zymodemes were identified and clustered by a phenetic analysis into 3 different groups corresponding to the typically visceralizing speciesL. donovani(20 zymodemes, 169 strains),L. archibaldi(3 zymodemes, 46 strains) andL. infantum(37 zymodemes, 2,062 strains). The taxonomic position of these isoenzymatic groups is discussed in view of contradictory results obtained from recent molecular studies.