Investigations On The Parasite Vector And Reservoir Host Of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis In Addis Ababa Silti Merabete And The Awash Region Ethiopia

From January 2005 to May 2006, investigations on the parasite, vector and reservoir hostrnof cutaneous leishmaniasis in Addis Ababa, Silti, Merabete and Awash Region, wererncarried out in different areas of Addis Ababa, Silti, Merabete and Awash-7, Addis Ababarnand Silti were discovered recently as Leishmania foci of cutaneous leishmaniasis in thernhighlands of Ethiopia, Awash valleys were areas where sympatric Leishmania tropicarnand L aethiopica were discovered for the first time from sandflies, Merabete is not veryrnwell known for cutaneous leishmaniasis in humans, but visceral leishmaniasis' wasrnreported from children in the associated lowland. The current Leishmania epidemics inrnSouth Eastern Addis Ababa along the gorges of Bulbulla and Akaki rivers was related tornsettlement of people near the Bulbulla - Akaki river gorges where hyraxes and sandfliesrn(Phlebotomus longipes) co-existed in crevices and cracks of the basalt rocks. It was thernarea where the zoonotic Leishmania cycle was maintained. In Silti, however, thernepidemics was related to the recent increase in number of hyraxes and sandflies as arnresult of the ecological changes of the Kerate gorge that bisects the center of the townrn(Kibet) and synanthropic adaptations of the hyraxes. The possible reservoir hosts that··rnwere examined for natural infection of Leishmania were 79 hyr'!xes, 12 Raltus raltus,.14·rnPraomys spp., 41 bats, 3 mongooses and 3 genet cats. Samples from skin,: blood, liver;.rnspleen and bone marrow were cultured in NNN medium in addition to .Giemsa stain,rnLeishmania parasites were isolated in NNN medium only from three bush hyraxesrn(Heterohyrax brucei) in Addis Ababa. The hyraxes from the other areas were negative for ..rnLeishmania in NNN medium. The total infection rate of H brucei in Addis Ababa :wasrn6.3% (3/48) and the highest infection rate was from the Saris area, 11.1 % (2/18). Thernhyrax infection rates in Kality were 5.9 %(1117). No infected hyraxes were found inrnKilinto (Akaki). The giemsa stains of the above· tissues were negative for amastigoternstage of Leishmania in the macrophages. Leishmania infection was not found in the gutsrnof sandflies dissected. Seasonality and age dependent infections in hyraxes werernobserved. Infections in hyraxes were found only in April, June and September afterrnspring peak sandfly abundance and biting passed. In Addis Ababa, no adults (0/16) werernfound infected, but infections occurred only in juveniles (2/25) and sub adults (1/10).

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