Introduction:

In the department of Tarija in the Bolivian-Argentine border, human cases with ulcers on uncovered parts of the skin plus clinical and epidemiological characteristics related to leishmaniasis were reported for the first time in 1997.

Objective:

To describe and to verify the presence of leishmaniasis in Tarija, sixth endemic department in Bolivia.

Materials and methods:

We conducted both an outbreak study (November, 1998, to December, 2002) and a longitudinal study (1997 to 2018) in humans, as well as captures of Phlebotominae and potential reservoirs.

Results:

A total of 1,250 patients were registered; in the outbreaks, 190 (1998) to 249 cases (2002) were reported and inter-epidemic periods with 37 cases as an annual average; 68% of the patients were highland migrants who inhabited precarious housing near residual forests. The predominant sex was male (ratio 2:1); the most affected group (363/584 cases, 62%) was the economically active (15 to 49 years old); 124/584 cases (21%) were children under 15 years old, 33/584 of them were under 4 years old; 51 patients/584 (8.7%) had mucosal lesions. Leishmania (V.) braziliensis was isolated and characterized from mucous ulcers of sick dogs. Nyssomyia neivai, an abundant anthropophilic species incriminated as a probable vector, was captured.

Conclusions:

The initial 1997 leishmaniosis presence in the municipality of Bermejo had spread out over four municipalities in 2018 (Padcaya, Caraparí, Entre Ríos, and Yacuiba), northeast of the department of Tarija.

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