Cutaneous Leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania tropica in Foum Jamâa (Azilal, Morocco)

Cutaneous leishmaniases (CL) are parasitic disease with a wide range of clinical symptoms and they are common in the human population in different localities such as Foum Jamâa in Azilal province, Morocco. The main objective of this study was to investigate the micro-environmental factors that may act as a factor of recrudescence for CL from risk January 2006 to December 2009 on 655 patients distributed in 3 sectors in Foum Jamâa. We also carried out an molecular detection of Leishmania and sand fly species responsible of CL in this focus. Free distribution tests were used to analyze the effect of each factor in the epidemiological assessments. Skin scrapings spotted on glass slides were collected and the ITS1 PCR-RFLP was used to identify the Leishmania parasite responsible for the recent cases of CL in FJ. Morphological identification was performed on 1072 sand flies (23% females and 77% males) collected by sticky paper traps during 6 months. Ours results showed that highest rate of positive lesions was found in the age group of 9 years old or under. However, there is no statistically significant correlation between gender and the rate of CL in presenting patients. Those results showed also that the distribution of positive cases was more significantly influenced by environmental factors common to each sector (altitude, sewerage, garbage...) than by individual specific. Ours results showed that the disease had caused by Leishmania tropica and 57% of the total collected flies were identified as Phlebotomus (Paraphlebotomus) sergenti (Parrot).