In a 2018 report, an unusual case of cutaneous leishmaniasis was described in a 72-year-old female patient residing in Arizona, United States of America (USA). Preliminary analysis of the 18S rDNA and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase genes supported the conclusion that the Leishmania strain (strain 218-L139) isolated from this case was a novel species, though a complete taxonomic description was not provided. Identification of Leishmania at the species level is critical for clinical management and epidemiologic investigations so it is important that novel human-infecting species are characterized taxonomically and assigned a unique scientific name compliant with the ICZN code. Therefore, we sought to provide a complete taxonomic description of Leishmania strain 218-L139. Phylogenetic analysis of several nuclear loci and partial maxicircle genome sequences supported its position within the subgenus Leishmania and further clarified the distinctness of this new species. Morphological characterization of cultured promastigotes and amastigotes from the original case material is also provided. Thus, we conclude that Leishmania (Leishmania) ellisi is a new cause of autochthonous cutaneous leishmaniasis in the USA.

在 2018 年的一份报告中，居住在美国亚利桑那州的一名 72 岁女性患者描述了一例不寻常的皮肤利什曼病病例。对 18S rDNA 和甘油醛-3-磷酸脱氢酶基因的初步分析支持从该病例中分离的利什曼原虫菌株（菌株 218-L139）是一个新物种的结论，尽管没有提供完整的分类学描述。在物种水平上鉴定利什曼原虫对于临床管理和流行病学调查至关重要，因此对新的人类感染物种进行分类学表征并分配符合 ICZN 代码的唯一学名非常重要。因此，我们试图提供利什曼原虫菌株 218-L139 的完整分类学描述。几个核位点和部分大环基因组序列的系统发育分析支持了它在利什曼原虫亚属中的位置，并进一步阐明了这个新物种的独特性。还提供了来自原始案例材料的培养前鞭毛体和无鞭毛体的形态学特征。因此，我们得出结论，利什曼原虫 （Leishmania） ellisi 是美国本土皮肤利什曼病的新原因。