Leishmania infecting man and wild animals in Saudi Arabia. 4. Canine cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Eastern Province.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis was detected in 4 of 117 feral dogs, none of which presented any evidence of visceral involvement, in the Al-Hassa area of Saudi Arabia where neither Leishmania infantum nor L. tropica are transmitted. The parasites isolated from 3 of the animals were identified by biochemical techniques as L. major, L. arabica and Leishmania zymodeme 62 respectively. Clinically, and in their histology, the lesions closely resembled those caused in man in the same geographical area by L. major. Dogs are probably victims rather than reservoirs of Leishmania.