Abstract
Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is one of the most wide-spread tropical neglected diseases in the Maghreb region. It is caused by three Leishmania species: Leishmania major, L. killicki and L. tropica, sand flies Phlebotomus papatasi and Ph. ctenodactylus gundi are known to play an important role in the maintaining and dissemination of Leishmania parasites.
Recently in Tunisia, hedgehog Atelerix algirus has been reported to be naturally infected by L. major and L. infantum DNA was detected using PCR-HRM technique. However, data from experimental infections of putative rodents such as Gerbillus genus to assess their infectivity and potential role in the transmission cycle of CL in the Maghreb region remains scarse.
Here, we aimed to evaluate the capacity of pleasant gerbil (Gerbillus amoenus) from Illizi, a new CL focus located in the extreme south of Algeria, to develop and support the infection of Leishmania major MON-25 under experimental conditions and compare it with a laboratory model of Balb/C mice.