Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology

ISSN: 0003-4983 (Print) 1364-8594 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ypgh19

A possible animal reservoir for Leishmania tropica s.l. in Kenya D. K. Sang, W. K. Njeru & R. W. Ashford To cite this article: D. K. Sang, W. K. Njeru & R. W. Ashford (1992) A possible animal reservoir for Leishmania tropica s.l. in Kenya, Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology, 86:3, 311-312, DOI: 10.1080/00034983.1992.11812670 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00034983.1992.11812670

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Annals ofTropical Medicine and Parasitology, Vol. 86, No.3, 311-312 (1992)

A possible animal reservoir for

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Leishmania tropica s.l. in Kenya Recent reports, summarized by Sang et a/. ( 1992), have discovered foci of Leishmania tropica s.l. infection in central Kenya. One such focus is on a lava flow near Nakuru, where we found infected Phlebotomus guggisbergi. This area is sparsely inhabited by a shifting population of illegal charcoal burners, many of whom become infected shortly after their first arrival. In this isolated rural locality, with no permanent human population but with intense transmission, all the indications are that the infection is zoonotic. The most conspicuous mammals in the area are hyraxes, but bats, baboons (Papio anubis), at least five species of ungulates, leopards (Felis pardus) and hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta) are also frequent. In many instances it has been found that a mammal species which is a good host for one species of Leishmania is likely to harbour more than one species (Ashford, 1986). Hyraxes have been found infected with L. aethiopica in Ethiopia (Ashford et al., 1973) and in Kenya (Mutinga, 1975), and with a parasite close to L. tropica (Rioux et a/., 1990) in Namibia (Grove and Ledger, 1975). Hyraxes were therefore regarded as the best candidate reservoir host in this present instance. Between 17 and 27 March 1992, we captured five adult hyraxes (Procavia johnstoni) under licence from the Kenya Wildlife Service. NNN cultures and impression smears were made from the tip of the nose, the spleen and the bone marrow of each animal, and from a lesion on the ear of one of them. Three of the animals had lesions on their noses which appeared to have been caused by trauma during capture.

Three cultures from the nose of a single pregnant female, which showed no lesions, grew promastigotes. All other cultures, and the impression smears, were negative. The identity of the parasites remains to be determined by isoenzyme electrophoresis, and further specimens must be examined, but for the time being it seems highly probable that hyraxes are reservoir hosts in this focus. This work is supported by the Control of Tropical Diseases Division of the World Health Organization. We are grateful to the Clinical Officer in Charge of Gil gil Health Centre for providing essential facilities, and to the National Museums of Kenya for confirming the identity of the hyraxes. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.

D. K.

SANG

w. K.NJERU Division of Vector Borne Diseases, National Public Health Laboratory Service, P.O. Box 30141, Nairobi, Kenya

R. W.

AsHFORD*

Laboratoire de Parasitologie, Universite de Montpelier I, 34000 Montpellier, France (On secondment from School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool L3 5QA, U.K.)

Received 6 May 1992, Accepted 19 May 1992 *Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

REFERENCES R. W. (1986) In Leishmania, Taxonomie et Phylogenese. Applications Eco-Epidemiologiques (Coli. int. CNRSj!NSERM. 1984), pp. 257-264. Montpellier: IMEEE. AsHFORD, R. W., BRAY, M.A., HuTCHINSON, M.P. & BRAY, R. S. (1973). Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 67, 568-601. GROVE, S.S. & LEDGER,]. A. (1975). Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 69, 523-524.

AsHFORD,

0003-4983/92/030311 + 02 $03.00/0

© 1992 Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

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SANG ET AL.

MuTINGA,

M.]. (1975). East African Medica/Journal, 52, 142-151.

G., SERRES, E., PRATLONG, F., BASTIEN, P. & PERIERES, ]. (1990). Annates de Parasitologie Humaine et Comparee, 65, 111-125. SANG, D. K., ASHFORD, R. W. & PRATLONG, F. (1992). Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 86.

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RIOUX, J.-A., LANOTTE,

A possible animal reservoir for Leishmania tropica s.l. in Kenya.

Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology ISSN: 0003-4983 (Print) 1364-8594 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ypgh19 A poss...
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