First molecular detection and identification of Leishmania species in small wild rodents from Turkey.

Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease infecting animals and humans. Two clinical forms (Visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis) and four species are reported to be present in Turkey. Several studies have investigated canine and human leishmaniasis in Turkey but no study was performed to screen the infection among wild rodents, so far. The present study aims to investigate the role of small wild rodents as reservoir animals forLeishmaniaspp. in different regions of Turkey. Formalin-preserved tissue samples (spleen, liver, lung) of 712 rodents from 30 provinces were screened for the presence ofLeishmaniaspp. DNA. Before DNA extraction, tissues were dried, rehydrated, and homogenated.Leishmaniascreening in rodent tissues and species determination was performed with a combination of real-time kDNA and ITS1 polymerase chain reaction protocols. Eight (1.12%) out of 712 animals were found to be positive forLeishmaniaspp. DNA and species typing revealed fiveL. infantum, twoL. tropicaand oneL. majoramong positives.Leishmania majorandL. infantumDNA were detected inApodemusspp. from Zonguldak province located in the Western Black Sea Region, whileL. tropicaDNA was found inMerionessp. andGerbillus dasyurusfrom Adana and Hatay provinces located in Eastern Mediterranean Region of Turkey. The present study is first to report natural infection ofL. infantum, L. majorandL. tropicain small wild rodents in Turkey, suggesting their possible roles as reservoirs. Further studies are needed for planning epidemiological studies and also for developing rodent control measures in risky endemic areas to break the transmission cycle.