First report of cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania donovani in Ethiopia

Leishmaniasis is a common neglected tropical disease in Ethiopia. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) caused by Leishmania donovani presents in the lowlands, while cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) affects people living in the highlands. Although CL is described as being caused by Leishmania aethiopica, there is also evidence of L. tropica and L. major isolated from a patient, sand flies and potential reservoirs. Information on species causing CL in Ethiopia is patchy, and no nation-wide study has ever been done. Understanding which species are causing CL in Ethiopia can have important implications for patient management and disease prevention. We analyzed stored routine samples and biobanked DNA isolates from previously conducted studies of CL patients from different centers in the north, center and south of Ethiopia. Species typing was performed using ITS-1 PCR with high-resolution melt (HRM) analysis, followed by HSP70 amplicon sequencing on a selection of the samples. Additionally, sociodemographic, clinical and laboratory data of patients were analyzed. Of the 226 CL samples collected, the Leishmania species could be determined for 105 (45.5