Leishmania major Infection in Synanthropic Rodents: Evidence for the Urbanization of Zoonotic Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (ZCL) in Southern Iran

Table 2

Molecular and microscopic characterization of L. major infection in captured rodents. The parameters considered include species, sex, PCR (kDNA) test results, presence of lesions, and observation of L. major amastigotes in the rodent tissues.

Species	Sex	L.m. amastigote	PCR			Lesion observation
			Liver	Spleen	Sole
R. rattus	Male	−	−	+	−	N
R. rattus	Male	Spleen	+	+	−	N
R. rattus	Female	−	−	+	−	N
R. rattus	Male	Spleen	−	+	−	N
R. rattus	Male	Spleen	−	+		Muzzle
R. rattus	Male	−	+	+	−	N
R. rattus	Male	−		+	−	N
R. rattus	Male	Spleen	−	+	−	Body/foot/lip/muzzle
R. rattus	Male	−	−	+	−	N
R. rattus	Male	−	−	+	+	N
R. rattus	Female	−	−	+	−	N
M. musculus	Male	−	−	+	−	N
M. musculus	Female	Spleen	+	+	−	N
M. musculus	Female	−	−	+	−	N
M. musculus	Female	−	−	+	−	N
M. musculus	Female	Spleen	−	+		Muzzle
M. musculus	Male	−	+	+	−	N
Meriones persicus	Female	−	−	+	−	N

Positive infection (+), negative infection (−), not seen (N), L. major (L.m.).