On the identity of the parasite causing diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Dominican Republic

Abstract

Three isolates from disseminated cutaneous leishmaniasis (DCL) patients from an unusual focus in the Dominican Republic were studied and typed according to their behaviour in culture and experimental animals, their malate dehydrogenase (MDH) electrophoretic variant type, and excretory factor (EF) serotype. They were compared with parasites known to cause DCL in other parts of the world. On the basis of these characteristics, this parasite appears to be different from Leishmania aethiopica which causes DCL in the Old World and from both L. mexicana pifanoi and L. m. amazonensis, which are associated with DCL in the New World. However, it appeared to have some relationship to the L. mexicana-complex.