The epidemiology of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Kuwait.

Studies in Kuwait have suggested that sandflies feed on man and domestic animals, but not on rodents in different habitats. Of 1129 feral and wild rodents, none showed evidence of leishmanial infection nor did their incidental lesions resemble those produced by inoculating a human strain. Five out of 30 patients with lesions of cutaneous leishmaniasis claimed they had never been outside the country, but the validity of these claims is questioned. Cutaneous leishmaniasis in Kuwait is essentially an imported disease, with no substantial evidence that it is yet endemic.