Cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Libyan Arab Republic: preliminary ecological findings.

Preliminary results show cutaneous leishmaniasis in Libya to be, sometimes at least, a rural zoonotic infection. The parasites are transmitted, probably by Phlebotomus papatasi, between the rodents Psammomys obesus and Meriones libycus. The banks and 'islands' in the main channel of seasonal wadis provide the right combination of vegetation and permanence for the maintenance of an intense focus.