Indirect Fluorescent antibody test for serodiagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis: An epidemiological study in Iraq.

Fourteen thousand, five hundred and two sera of patients from sixteen governorates in Iraq,suspected to be parasitized by Leishmania donovani, have been tested during the period January 2000 to December 2002, by indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) using a leptomonad antigen. A total of 5558(38.5%) cases of them were found positive for IFAT for visceral leishmaniasis (VL). The most common age group infected with VL was between 1- 5 years; they represented 5390 (96.97 %). The highest ratio of VL infections was in February and January; they represented 510 positive cases in February 2000, 417 in January 2001 and 513 in February 2002. It was seems that Wasit governorate had the highest percentage of infections; it was 35 %, 29.6 % and 33 % in 2000, 2001 and 2002 respectively, then it follows by Diala, Babil and Baghdad governorates.