We update the current epidemiologic profi le of Leishmania spp. in Morocco by using archived clinical samples tested by PCR. We provide economic and epidemiologic rationales for our recommendation that species-specifi c identifi cation be performed for all cases of suspected leishmaniasis The Study Tissue samples were taken from 27 patients with suspected CL who had consulted the health centers from March 2005 to March 2006.

DISPATCHES. 1358 Emerging Infectious Diseases ' www.cdc.gov/eid ' Vol. 13, No. 9, September 2007.

During the past 20 years, cutaneous leishmaniasis has emerged as a major public health threat in Morocco. We describe distribution of Leishmania major and L. tropica in . Morocco and a new focus of cutaneous leishmaniasis due to L. infantum. We recommend using molecular techniques to diagnose suspected leishmaniasis cases L eishmaniasis, a vectorborne parasitic disease, affects 100 countries whose populations are at risk for the disease, the disease infl icts a high economic cost (1,2).

Additionally, large-scale emergence and reemergence have been recently reported in many Mediterranean countries, including Morocco (1,3) Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) caused by Leishmania major has been reported in Morocco since 1914 (4); until recently, however, it was largely confi ned to arid Saharan regions (4,5). In 2001, the Moroccan Ministry of Health . (MMH) reported 2,028 CL cases caused by L. major and L. tropica (6).

Accurate diagnosis and treatment of CL requires positive identifi cation of the causative species of parasite (11). Often, however, traditional diagnostic methods such as analysis of clinical symptoms, microscopic identifi cation, and parasite culture are performed in place of molecular diagnostic techniques, such as PCR. Problematically, all Leishmania species have similar morphology, and several species capable of causing both CL and visceral leishmaniasis (VL) may exist in the same locales

We update the current epidemiologic profi le of Leishmania spp. in Morocco by using archived clinical samples tested by PCR. We provide economic and epidemiologic rationales for our recommendation that species-specifi c identifi cation be performed for all cases of suspected leishmaniasis The Study Tissue samples were taken from 27 patients with suspected CL who had consulted the health centers from March 2005 to March 2006.

Local reference laboratories evaluated all stained slides by light microscopy and positively identi-.ed Leishmania amastigotes. Patients had no history of travel and were assumed to been infected in Morocco; all received free intralesional injections of meglumine antimoniate (Glucantime; Sanofi -Aventis, Bridgewater, NJ, USA) until total recovery, according to the protocol in the MMH leishmaniasis control manual.