Leishmaniasis spreads in eighty-eight countries, including the Syrian Arab
Republic. This disease is caused by a protozoic parasite of the genus
Leishmania. Twenty-two species of leishmania were reported to be pathogenic
for human. The disease is
presented in three clinical forms: cutaneous,
mucocutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis. A set of methods for diagnosis and
identifying the type of parasite have been developed in order to give
appropriate treatment. These methods include isoenzyme analysis, serological
and immunological methods and DNA hybridization. The polymerase chain
reaction (PCR), using genomic or kinetoplastid DNA; provides an excellent tool
for diagnosis and characterization of leishmania species. In this work, the two
types of DNA were extracted in one step from cultured isolates taken from
patients. We have used kinetoplastid DNA and specific primers to determine
parasite species by PCR. These primers amplify species specific fragment. In
this study, we have determined that the causative species of the cutaneous
leishmaniasis in all patients was L.tropica.