Imported leishmaniasis in travelers: a 7-year retrospective from a Parisian hospital in France

Abstract

Highlights Imported leishmaniases are regularly seen in non-endemic areas. Cutaneous forms are due to different species that need to be correctly identified for adapting treatment and epidemiologic purposes. The index of suspicion for the visceral form is often low because of the non-specificity of the clinical symptoms and the notion of travel in endemic areas often remote. The strategy, based on diagnostic quantitative PCR followed by sequencing for species identification, allows for rapid and safe diagnoses in a routine laboratory.

Keywords

• Cutaneous leishmaniasis
• Visceral leishmaniasis
• Quantitative PCR
• Cytochrome b sequencing
• Leishmania major
• Leishmania tropica