Development of an Amplicon-Based Next-Generation Sequencing Protocol to Identify Leishmania Species and Other Trypanosomatids in Leishmaniasis Endemic Areas

Abstract

Traditionally, there has been a frequent, yet incorrect assumption that phlebotomine vectors, animal reservoirs, and human hosts are susceptible to Leishmania infection by a single parasite species. However, current evidence supports that these new vector-parasite-reservoir associations lend vectors and reservoirs greater permissiveness to certain Leishmania species, thus promoting the appearance of coinfection events, particularly in disease-endemic regions.