Sporadic cutaneous leishmaniasis in north Tunisia: identification of the causative agent as Leishmania infantum by the use of a diagnostic deoxyribonucleic acid probe.

A diagnostic kinetoplast deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) probe has been used to identify as Leishmania infantum amastigotes taken from the lesions (in dermal fluid or lesion triturates) of 7 of 8 patients suffering from sporadic cutaneous leishmaniasis in north Tunisia. All 8 isolates were very difficult to culture but, subsequently, sufficient parasites of one isolate have been grown for isoenzyme typing, and were identified as zymodeme MON 24 of L. infantum. The advantages of using recombinant DNA probes for the identification of parasites from lesions are discussed.