A zoonotic focus of cutaneous leishmaniasis due to Leishmania tropica af Utut, Rift Valley Province, Kenya

Several foci of cutaneous leishmaniasis have been identified in central Kenya and the Rift Valley. One of these was the Utut focus of Leishmania tropica on the floor of the Rift Valley between Gilgil and Elementaita, where intense transmission was detected. High infection and scar rates were detected among illegal charcoal burners in a previously uninhabited forest reserve on a lava flow containing numerous caves and rock crevices inhabited by sandflies and mammals which included hyraxes. Multiple lesions, predominantly in the head region, were common. 33% of cases occurred in people who had been less than one year in the area. Although most lesions healed within one or 2 years, some large, recrudescing lesions lasted several years.