Geospatial analysis of tegumentary leishmaniasis in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil from 2000 to 2015: Species typing and flow of travelers and migrants with leishmaniasis

Background We identified the species of Leishmania isolated from traveling and migrant patients attended in a reference center from 2000 to 2015, we performed the georeferencing of these species in Rio de Janeiro (RJ) state and we had knowledge about the human flows between the likely location of infection (LLI) and place of residence (PR) in RJ state, Brazil. Methodology/Principal findings This is a retrospective cross-sectional study including 171 patients diagnosed with ATL. Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, and Bing Maps were tools used to georeference LLI and PR. For etiological identification, we used isoenzyme electrophoresis, polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (molecular target hsp70C with restriction enzymes HaeIII and BstUI), and sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer of ribosomal DNA. ARCGIS software was used to create maps of the geographic distribution of Leishmania species in the state and municipality of RJ, together with flows between the LLI and PR. Isolates from 104 patients were identified as: L. (Viannia) braziliensis (80.8%), L. (V.) naiffi (7.7%), L. (V.) guyanensis (6.7%), L. (Leishmania) amazonensis (1%), and genetic variants of L. (V.) braziliensis (3.8%). The flow maps showed that the LLI included 4 countries, 19 Brazilian states, and 18 municipalities of RJ state. The Brazilian states with the highest density of cases were Amazonas (n = 32), Bahia (n = 18), and Ceara (n = 15). Conclusions/Significance This work is the first contribution to the knowledge of the routes of Leishmania species introduced in RJ state by migrants and travelers patients. L. (V.) braziliensis, L. (V.) guyanensis, L. (V.) naiffi, L. (L.) amazonensis, and genetic variants of L. (V.) braziliensis were identified in RJ state. To determine whether the autochthonous transmission of these imported species is possible it is necessary the adaptation of these species to environmental conditions as well as the presence of reservoirs and phlebotomine vectors in this region.