{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,24]],"date-time":"2026-10-24T19:50:23Z","timestamp":1792871423823,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,26]],"date-time":"2024-09-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1727308800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Leishmaniasis, mainly cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), is endemic in Israel. In recent years, the diagnosis of leishmaniasis has transitioned to a molecular diagnosis. Objective: To summarize all cases of leishmaniasis and the identified species seen in Israel based on molecular diagnosis. Methods: A retrospective study was performed of patients diagnosed with leishmaniasis between January 2017 and December 2022. All five medical centers in Israel in which Leishmania diagnosis is performed were included: Soroka, HaEmek, Hadassah, Rambam, and Sheba, all utilized molecular diagnostic methods. Data on the annual number of cases, species, age, and gender were retrieved. Results: During the years 2017\u20132022, a total of 4168 cases of leishmaniasis were diagnosed, which corresponds with ~7\/100,000 inhabitants. L. (L.) major and L. (L.) tropica accounted for 84% and 14%, respectively. During the years 2020\u20132021, L. (L.) infantum emerged as a new form of cutaneous disease [2.7% of cases during this period]. Visceral L. (L.) infantum was found in five cases. Imported New World leishmaniasis accounted for 1% of the cases. L. (L.) major affected more males (67%) while L. (L.) tropica commonly affected more children and caused more facial lesions. Conclusions: The mean annual number of cases during these years is ~700. The dominant species is L. (L.) major. Since 2020, cutaneous L. (L.) infantum is an emerging infection in Israel.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms12101950","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,26]],"date-time":"2024-09-26T08:20:52Z","timestamp":1727338852000},"page":"1950","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["The Epidemiology of PCR-Confirmed Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Israel: A Nationwide Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8738-1840","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dror","family":"Avni","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory for Tropical Diseases Research, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Ramat-Gan 52621, Israel"},{"name":"The Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7371-5814","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michal","family":"Solomon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel"},{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer 52621, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Merav","family":"Strauss","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Molecular Microbiology Laboratory, HaEmek Medical Center, Afula 183111, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Orli","family":"Sagi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Parasitology, Soroka University Medical Center and the Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva 84101, Israel"},{"name":"The Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva 84101, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Violeta","family":"Temper","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem 91120, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ayelet","family":"Michael-Gayego","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem 91120, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tal","family":"Meningher","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory for Tropical Diseases Research, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Ramat-Gan 52621, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Emily","family":"Avitan-Hersh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departments of Dermatology, Rambam Health Care Campus and Technion Faculty of Medicine, Haifa 31096, Israel"},{"name":"Microbiology, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa 31096, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Moran","family":"Szwarcwort-Cohen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departments of Dermatology, Rambam Health Care Campus and Technion Faculty of Medicine, Haifa 31096, Israel"},{"name":"Microbiology, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa 31096, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9134-050X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jacob","family":"Moran-Gilad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem 91120, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0967-3968","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ayelet","family":"Ollech","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pediatric Dermatology Service, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem 9103102, Israel"},{"name":"The Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91120, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4673-9084","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eli","family":"Schwartz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory for Tropical Diseases Research, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Ramat-Gan 52621, Israel"},{"name":"The Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel"},{"name":"The Institute of Geographic Medicine and Tropical Diseases, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer 52621, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"581","DOI":"10.1016\/S1473-3099(07)70209-8","article-title":"Cutaneous leishmaniasis","volume":"7","author":"Reithinger","year":"2007","journal-title":"Lancet Infect. 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