IBN AL- HAITHAM J. FO R PURE & APPL. SC I. VO L.23 (3 ) 2010 The Effect of Dryness o n the Prevalence of Few Cases of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in North Iraq S. A. Salman Departme nt of Biology ,College of Sciences , Unive rsity of Baghdad Abstract This is a contribution to st udy the comp lex effect of rainfall on the incidence of cutaneous leishmaniasis in an endemic area (AL-M ohalabiy a) in Ninava p rovince in the north region of Iraq. Key wards: effect .dry ness .p revalence . cases . cutaneous leishman iasis. AL-M ohalabiy a. Ninava .north. Iraq. Introduction The cutaneous leishmaniasis is one of the endemic diseases in Iraq [1-7] M any st udies were performed on both vector and reservoir in many p arts of Iraq [1,3,6,7,8] during the last century . Also the st udies were oriented towareds the p arasite and the different st rains of Leishmania tropica and L. major with function to the geographical regions [3,6,7,8,9,10,]. The susp ected animals as reservoir are dog, jackal and rodents [3,6,7]. The susp ected vectors are Phlebotomus papatasi and Sergentomiya baghdadis [2,3,4,5,6,12]. The distribution of sandflies depends widely on the geographical regions of Iraq [2,3,5,6,8]. However the P.papatasi forms about 95% of t he tot al density of the sp ecies [1,3,57,12]. The suitable p laces of breeding are animal shelters, deep crack in the soil, dog p its, and rodent’s barrows [3,5,7]. The number of rodents (as p ossible reservoir) depends widely on the cultivated area [3,7,10]. The plateau of Al-Jazera is well known in Iraq as the main source of wheat, and is depending entirely on rainfall. The main average of rainfall in Iraq in this region is (900) mm/year. In 1998 this average fall-of (-80%) was according to the M inist ry of Irrigation. Method and Materials A traditional area of cutaneous leishmaniasis (AL-M ohalabiy a) in north Iraq about 20 km in the west of Al –M oussal City was visited in October 1998. The number of cases in AL-M ohalabiy a area was rep orted from the regional directorate of health durin g for the years1996, 1997 and 1998. Result and Discussion Al- M ohalbiyia area is well known as one of the endemic area for cutaneous leishman iasis in Ninava p rovince [6,8]. The area is a wide flat p lateau depends on rainfall as main source of irr igation to the wheat farms. Human dwellin g is mud –block or cement made. The rep orted cases were 10, 108 and 0, resp ectively in 1996,1997 and 1998 Table(1). In 1998 the rainfall was fall-of (–80%) of the average and this reduced high ly the quantities of wheat. Also t he average of rodents barrows was (8) in 100 m 2 in the st udy area (about 1200 m 2 ) in IHJPAS IBN AL- HAITHAM J. FOR PURE & APPL. S CI. VOL.23 (3) 2010 the sout h from the center of the main v illage. Al l these barrows were emp ty now (villagers estimates t hat the lost of wheat is about 25% of the outcome). Rodents were migrated towareds Tigris River in the west of the endemic area (about 20 km) due to t he dryness [9]. So the number and density of sandflies were highly reduced [7,9]. As a result of t hat unfavorable condition for the reservoir the number of rep orted cases in 1998 was zero [3,5,7,8,9,12]. Also t he villagers noticed that the sneak att acks dwellin g in high nu mbers during the night to search for food are due to the absence of rodents as a main source of nutrition [9]. It is necessary to mention that any kind of insecticide was not used during the dates indicated in the table. This note indicates that the comp lex ecological elements affect the prevalence of this disease in this p art of Iraq. It seems also t hat a more comp rehensive study in this field is required. Re ferences 1.Abul-hab, J. and Al-Baghdadi, R. (1972) a: Seasona l occurrence of man bitin g Phlebotomus (Diptera, Psychodidae) in the Baghdad Area. Iraqi. Anal. Trop . M ed. Parasitol .66, 165-166, . 2.Abul-hab J and Al-Hashimi, W. (1988) : Night –biting activities, Phlibotomus papatasi Scolp i. (Diptera Phlibotamidae) In Suwira Iraq. Bu ll. End. Dis. Baghd.29, 5-16.. 3.Adler, S. and Theodor.O. (1929) a: The distribution of sand fly and Leishmaniasis in Palest ine, Sy ria and M esop otamia.Ann. T rop . M ed. Paras. 23, 269-303. 4.Adler, s.; Theodor, O. &Lourie, E.M . (1930): Sand fly from Persia &Palestine Bull .End. Res. .21: 529-539,. 5.Pringel, G: (1952) The sand flies (Phlebotominae) of Iraq. Bull.Ent.Res 43:707-734. 6.Pringel, G: (1957) Oriental sore in Iraq. Historical and epidemiological Problems. Bull.End.Dis.Bagh, 2:44-294. 7.Sukker, F(1982): A st udy on sand flies in a focus of infantile kala-azar inIraq durin g 1978. Bull.End.Dis.Bagh.20 (4), 67-73. 8.Sukker, F. (1983): Ep idemiolo gy of Leishman iasis in IraqBull.End.Dis.Bagh. 22(4) 35-41. 9.Rioux, J.A, Croset H, et Lanotte, G: (1974) Ecologie d`un foyer mediterraneen de leishman iose viscerale essai de modelisation.collegu e intrenationux du C.N.R.S, No.39 M ontpellier, 295-305. 10.AL-Alak, S. S(1996) Study in the epidemiology of visceral leishmaniasis (kala-azar) in Al- M agger district M issan p rovince. M Sc. thesis .Vet. Coll. Bagh.77. 11-Jawdat, S .Z; Ali N .A; Rifaat L. Kh; Ruth K. Y and Al M ahdawi S. K: (1985) Serio- epidemiological studies of Leishmaniasis in central Iraq. J.Biol. Sci.R es. 16(1): 185-202, . 12-Jawdat, S. Z; Ali N .A; Rifaat L. Kh. and Rutha KY: (1983) The incid ence of kala –azar in an endemic focus in central Iraq.J.Biol.Sci.Res, 148:81-87, and. IHJPAS IBN AL- HAITHAM J. FOR PURE & APPL. S CI. VOL.23 (3) 2010 Table(1) Reported case s of leishmani asis in the study area. Area of AL-Mohalabiya / NINAVA province Village No of case s Date Ce nter 2 November 1996 Tal Al –Se nn 2 Sheak Ibrahim 1 Farshah 1 Moshe rfa 1 Ain al Waah 1 Al Yazidi 1 Gazi al 1 Kaberatt 1 De cember 1996 Al S ahaji 1 Kaberatt 1 January 1997 Tal Zalatt 1 Adia 2 Al Boshih 1 Tal Se roall 5 February 1997 All villages 97 March 1997 All villages 0 During 1998 IHJPAS 2010) 3( 23مجلة ابن الھیثم للعلوم الصرفة والتطبیقیة المجلد قفي شمال العر لجلديةتأثير الجفاف على انتشار بعض حاالت اللشمانيا ا ا شهاب احمد سلمان امعة بغدادج ،كلية العلوم ،قسم علوم الحياة خالصة ال ي البحث ھو محاولة لدراسة العالقة المعقدة القائمة بین انتش ذاھ ار مرض اللشمانیا الجلدیـة وسـقوط اإلمطـار ـف .لمنطقة الشمالیة من العراقفي محافظة نینوى في ا )المحلبیة(منطقة موبوءة IHJPAS