Isolation of Leishmania major in Phlebotomus papatasi in Biskra (Algeria). The end of an ecoepidemiological saga

Abstract

Out of 1,167 females of sandflies dissected, one specimen of Phlebotomus papatasi captured at a transmission site near Biskra, a well known Algerian focus of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis, was found naturally infected with Leishmania major zymodeme MON-25. This supports classical observations of Sergent and al. P. papatasi as vector in this focus in 1921.