Background. Parasitic diseases, in particular leishmaniasis, are still a public health problem in several countries and in Morocco. Methods. The data used are those of epidemiological surveillance collected in the registers of the prefectural epidemiology cell (PEC); however, the socioeconomic data were obtained from the High Commissioner for Planning. The Pearson correlation test was used to determine the correlation between the different variables. Results. In total, 70 cases were recorded by the prefectural epidemiology cell (PEC) during the period from 2009 to 2015. 46% of the cases come from rural areas while 54% of the cases come from urban areas. The Pearson test shows the existence of a significant relationship between the number of cases recorded and the type of environment (r = 0.49, p value = 0.02), and population rate (R = 0.849 and p≤0.001). However, in our case, the poverty rate does not influence CL’s distribution. Conclusion. Our results show that the CL affects the majority of the municipalities with predominance of the urban environment, so the distribution of cases of this pathology is not influenced by the poverty; however, the urbanization and the number of inhabitants have a positive impact on the distribution of this scourge.

Laboratoire de la géo-biodiversité et patrimoine naturel, centre GEOPAC, institut scientifique-Rabat, Université Mohamed V. Maroc AbstractLeishmaniasis is an infectious disease transmitted to humans by the bite of female sand fly. These parasitic infections are the second most common cause of parasite mortality worldwide after malaria and are endemic Asian and African countries. In Morocco, they pose a real health problem. The objective of this study is to determine the epidemiological situation of these diseases in the city of El Hajeb in central Morocco, analyze their evolution according to sex and age and assess their geographical distribution according to the environment. To do this, we carried out a retrospective study during the period from 2013 to 2017, collecting all the new cases of cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis declared in this city. Data were collected at the register level from the delegation of the Ministry of health of El Hajeb. A total of twentyone new cases were declared infected. The coexistence of the two forms of leishmaniasis: 80.95% of cutaneous forms and 19.05% of the visceral form

The impact of climate factors on the epidemiology of diseases in general and leishmaniasis in particular continues to be a subject of research and analysis. Changes in climatic parameters contribute to the creation of ecological conditions favorable to the multiplication of the vectors of certain diseases. With this in mind, this study presents an entomological survey conducted in Meknes prefecture and the study of the link between the abundance of sandflies, an indicator of the risk of leishmaniasis in a given area, and the climatic factors. Monthly trapping of this fauna was carried out during a year from March 2016 until April 2017 using adhesive traps. Climatic data from the region were used to determine the effect of climate on the distribution of sandflies. A total of 941 leishmaniasis vector specimens were captured. The dominant species is Ph. sergenti (73.32), followed by Ph. longicuspis (8.25%), then Ph. perniciosus (7.94%) and Ph. papatasi (6.31%). The sex ratio study showed that males are more abundant than females for all species. The seasonal fluctuation is bimodal with two peaks, the first in July and the second in September. The results show a positive correlation between temperature and abundance of sandflies (r = 0.99) and a negative correlation with humidity and precipitation with a correlation coefficient of r = −0.87 and r = −0.72. Indeed, the medium-term climatological forecasts are essential tools to develop a warning system for leishmaniasis.

Increasing cases of leishmaniasis disease have been reported during recent years in Sefrou Province, Central North of Morocco. This study presents the epidemiological profile of the provincial population, aims at analyzing the epidemiological profile, and in particular, spatiotemporal follow-up of all cases of leishmaniasis. It is a retrospective analysis of leishmaniasis cases recorded between 2007 and 2010. The data were analyzed by SPSS software (version 20). Over a four-year period, from 2007 to 2010, there were 62 cases of leishmaniasis, 93.12% of cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis and 6.87% of visceral leishmaniasis. The case number of leishmaniasis in the Province of Sefrou varies between 0.165% and 0.0018%. For each type of leishmaniasis, the female sex was the most affected compared to the male sex. This difference cannot be considered statistically significant (χ2 = 0.083, p value = 0.77). For cutaneous leishmaniasis, all age groups were affected with a large percentage: patients aged 0–9 years with 63.11% followed by the age group [10–19] with 24.18%. Visceral leishmaniasis mainly has affected the infant population [0–9] with 83.33%. We have not observed any association between the age classes and the leishmaniasis type (χ2 = 6.20, p value = 0.4). From a spatial point of view, the majority of cases of leishmaniasis was reported in El Menzel region (67 cases) followed by Sefrou (64 cases) and Tazouta (38 cases). There is a statistically significant relationship between the type of leishmaniasis and the studied regions (χ2 = 52; p value <0.001). The study of the epidemiological profile of leishmaniasis cases may be useful in enlightening health authorities to develop screening, treatment, and control strategies to reduce the incidence rate of the disease. Other research studies can be conducted to the dynamics of the vectors of sandflies and their ecology.

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An entomological survey was carried out in the locality of Aichoune to conduct a study on sand flies, species composition, and monthly relative abundance. This study is essential for the implementation of integrated vector management control. Insects collection was carried out twice a month from January 2013 to December 2014 by means of adhesive and CDC-type light traps. A total of 5441 sand flies were collected with the predominance of males (a sex ratio = 1.89). The sampled specimens consist of seven species divided into two genera: Phlebotomus (99.55%) and Sergentomyia (0.44%). Phlebotomus sergenti was the dominant species with an average annual proportion of 47.38%, followed by P. perniciosus (37.32%), P. longicuspis (8,56%), P. papatasi (6.23%), and P. ariasi (0.05%). The genus Sergentomyia was less common (0.44%). S.minuta was represented only by 0.36% and S. fallax by 0.07%. The species dynamics showed a unimodal evolution for P. sergenti and P. papatasi. They were active from May to October. P. perniciosus presents a trimodal trend showing the most relevant peak in August. The highest number of specimens was collected in June, when the temperature reaches an annual average value of 25.5°C. The obtained results will help us better understand the leishmaniasis transmission dynamics in the Aichoune locality and will contribute to the design of a surveillance strategy.

Phlebotomine sandflies are bloodsucking insects responsible for the transmission of leishmaniasis. The average annual incidence in Morocco, of this pathology, was approximately estimated in 2014 as 7.8 per 100.000 inhabitants according to the Moroccan health information service records. The study of the composition of the Phlebotomian community and its seasonal dynamics are essential for determining the appropriate and adequate means of control at the prefecture of Meknes in Central Morocco. It is with this in mind that two capture sessions per month using sticky paper traps were conducted at the sites of sandflies. A total of 982 sandflies were captured. The identification of the specimens found via the Moroccan key revealed a percentage of 73.3% belonging to the subgenus Paraphlebotomus, 6.3% to the Phlebotomus subgenus, 16.2% to Larroussius, and 4.2% of Sergentomia subgenus. Phlebotomus sergenti, vector of human cutaneous leishmaniasis, was found as the more abundant with 73.3% followed by Larroussius longicuspis with 8.2%. The largest number of species was harvested in July and September with, respectively, 44.8 ph/m 2 /night and 48.7 ph/m 2 /night. This study also unveiled that the two high-risk Leishmanian months are July and September, hence, the need to strengthen efforts to monitor and control this disease during the vector activity period.

Background. Leishmaniases are vector-borne diseases with health risks. They cause a big health problem. These parasitic diseases are transmitted by the parasite of the genus Leishmania through sandflies. Objective. The aim of this work is to study the distribution of the incidence of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) cases and the impact of urbanization and socioeconomic factors and their effects as leishmaniasis risk factors. Methods. We conducted a retrospective study of CL cases collected at the level of Sefrou Province during the period from 2007 to 2011. The data was collected from registers of the Medical Delegation of Sefrou Province. The socioeconomic data, namely, the poverty rate, the popular density, and the type of environment (urban/rural) of Sefrou Province, were obtained from the High Commission for Planning. Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS software (version 20). The data were registered in a Microsoft Excel 2010 file. Statistical analysis was based on one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and then a correlation study was carried out (Pearson correlation). The results were considered significant when p was less than 0.05. The database was analyzed by QGIS 2.18, which is open source software. Results. A total of 349 cases of CL were collected at Sefrou Province from 2007 to 2011. A percentage of 49% of the cases come from urban areas, while 51% of the cases come from rural areas. In the statistical analysis, the division of the incidence of CL cases was found to be significantly associated only with urbanization. For the other factors, the number of people or the poverty rate is not taken into account in the incidence dynamics. Conclusion. This study may be useful for the implementation of future adequate measures and controls. Getting rid of leishmaniasis requires a comprehensive approach by acting on the sources of contamination through good continuous surveillance, appropriate management, effective vector control, and awareness-raising strategies.