Abstract:
Sri Lanka was free of any form of leishmaniasis until
recently. The first autochthonous case of cutaneous
leishmaniasis (CL) was only detected in 19921.
By the year 2002, 65 cases, mainly from northern
dry zone, were reported2. Leishmania donovani
zymodeme MON-37 was identified to be responsible
for CL in Sri Lanka3, though L. donovani is more
typically associated with visceral leishmaniasis (VL).
In neighbouring India anthroponotic CL (ACL) is
mainly caused by L. tropica and is vectored by Phlebotomus
sergenti and P. papatasi4. In Sri Lanka the
presence of P. argentipes, the well known vector of
VL caused by L. donovani in the Indian subcontinent,
has been reported for many years5–7. However, the
presence of P. sergenti and P. papatasi has not been
reported so far from Sri Lanka.
