Leishmania major, the Predominant Leishmania Species Responsible for Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Mali

Leishmania major is the only species of Leishmania known to cause cutaneous leishmanisis (CL) in Mali. We amplified Leishmania DNA stored on archived Giemsa-stained dermal scraping slides obtained from self-referral patients with clinically suspected CL seen in the Center National d'Appui A La Lutte Contre La Maladie (CNAM) in Bamako, Mali, to determine if any other Leishmania species were responsible for CL in Mali and evaluate its geographic distribution. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification was performed using a Leishmania species-specific primer pair that can amplify DNA from L. major, L. tropica, L. infantum, and L. donovani parasites, possible causative agents of CL in Mali. L. major was the only species detected in 41 microscopically confirmed cases of CL from five regions of Mali (Kayes, Koulikoro, Ségou, Mopti, and Tombouctou). These results implicate L. major as the predominant, possibly exclusive species responsible for CL in Mali.