Leishmania infecting man and wild animals in Saudi Arabia. 4. Canine cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Eastern Province

Abstract Cutaneous leishmaniasis was detected in 4 of 117 feral dogs, none of which presented any evidence of visceral involvement, in the Al-Hassa area of Saudi Arabia where neither Leishmania infantum nor L. tropica are transmitted. The parasites isolated from 3 of the animals were identified by biochemical techniques as L. major , L. arabica and Leishmania zymodeme 62 respectively. Clinically, and in their histology, the lesions closely resembled those caused in man in the same geographical area by L. major . Dogs are probably victims rather than reservoirs of Leishmania .