Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Algeria; Highlight on the Focus of M’Sila

Razika Benikhlef (1, 2) , Karim Aoun (2, 3) , Abdelkarim Boudrissa (4) , Meriem Ben Abid (2) , Kamel Cherif (5) , Wafa Aissi (6) , Souad Benrekta (7) , Said C. Boubidi (1) , Gerald F Späth (8) , Aïda Bouratbine (2) , Denis Sereno (9, 10) , Zoubir Harrat (1)

1 Laboratoire d’Eco-Epidémiologie Parasitaire et Génétique des Populations [Alger]
2 LR11IPT06 - Laboratoire de Parasitologie Médicale, Biotechnologies et Biomolécules
3 Laboratoire d'Epidémiologie et d'Ecologie parasitaire, Institut Pasteur de Tunis
4 Institut Pasteur d'Algérie
5 Uni M'sila - University of M'sila / Université Mohamed Boudiaf - M'sila
6 UTM - Université de Tunis El Manar
7 Service d’Epidémiologie et de Médecine Préventive [Boussaâda, Algérie]
8 Parasitologie moléculaire et Signalisation / Molecular Parasitology and Signaling
9 UMR INTERTRYP - Interactions hôtes-vecteurs-parasites-environnement dans les maladies tropicales négligées dues aux trypanosomatides
10 MIVEGEC - Maladies infectieuses et vecteurs : écologie, génétique, évolution et contrôle

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.

Mots clés: Algeria; Leishmania major; M’Sila; cutaneous leishmaniasis; epidemiology; rodents; sandflies

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Razika Benikhlef, Karim Aoun, Abdelkarim Boudrissa, Meriem Ben Abid, Kamel Cherif, et al.. Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Algeria; Highlight on the Focus of M’Sila. Microorganisms, 2021, 9 (5), pp.962. ⟨10.3390/microorganisms9050962⟩. ⟨pasteur-03512621⟩