McIlwee BE, et al. - The endemicity of human leishmaniasis in the US was evaluated in this study. In the US, human cutaneous leishmaniasis is endemic, and acquisition of this infection is frequently more endemic than via travel, regionally, at least. Leishmaniasis should be made a federally reportable disease since it might have substantial implications on North American public health initiatives, with climate model predictions estimating that the number of citizens exposed to leishmaniasis will double by 2080.

Methods

• In this cross-sectional multicenter observational study, researchers reviewed cases of human leishmaniasis occurring in the US from 2007 through 2017.
• The institutions of the authors and acknowledged contributors, as well as the Texas Department of State Health Services reported previously diagnosed, deidentified cases of leishmaniasis.
• They identified cases of leishmaniasis by searching by disease name (leishmaniasis) or International Classification of Diseases, 9th and 10th Revisions diagnosis codes in the respective laboratory information systems.
• They classified the cases of leishmaniasis as one of the following via examination of deidentified demographics: (1) documentation of no history of travel outside of the US within 10 years; (2) positive history of travel outside of the United States within 10 years; or (3) unknown or no documentation of travel history.
• They considered the cases of leishmaniasis as endemic if identified in patients with documentation of no travel history outside of the United States within 10 years.

Results

• Results demonstrated that 41 (59%) out of the 69 novel cases of human cutaneous leishmaniasis identified in this study were endemic; the median age at diagnosis was 61 years (range, 3-89 years), and 28 (68%) of the endemic cases occurred in female patients.
• Findings suggested that in 22 (32%) cases there was documentation of Leishmania speciation performed by polymerase chain reaction, and in 100% of these cases the infectious organism was identified as Leishmania mexicana.