In the summer 1976, natural foci of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis were discovered by the authors on the territory of the Mongolian People's Republic. In 1976-1983 the integrated research of these foci was conducted and maps of a structure of the geographical range of the pathogen were compiled taking into account the peculiarities of distribution of its carriers and vectors. Great gerbils are the only identified vertebrate hosts of Leishmania and their infection rate comes up to 100% in single foci. Three species of sandflies belonging to subgenus Paraphlebotomus, Ph. andrejevi, Ph. mongolensis and Ph. alexandri, are vectors of the pathogen in foci. The most common of them in burrows of gerbils is Ph. andrejevi. It was established by genetic and biochemical methods that two variants of Leishmania major may circulate simultaneously in individual natural foci in the MPR, but both of them have a low virulence and are not dangerous for man.

Genomic analysis of Leishmania turanica strains from different regions of Central Asia

Revisiting epidemiology of leishmaniasis in central Asia: lessons learnt