RESUMEN
A more than 60-case outbreak of cutaneous leishmaniasis was documented in the Geokchai District of Azerbaijan between 1987 and 1988. The disease was noted in the rural areas only. All age groups were involved. The clinical picture of the disease was significantly different from anthropogenic cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by L. tropica but similar to cutaneous patterns caused by L. infantum which was a prevalent pattern in the southern France. Isoenzyme assay of the strain isolated in the Geokchai causative agent defined it as Leishmania donovani sensu lato. Though an undoubted similarity of its enzymatic profile to L. infantum was observed it was distinguished as a singular zymodeme. A total of 9 Phlebotominae species were isolated in the Geokchai District. Among them 5 species (P. kandelakii, P. tobbi, P. transcaucasicus, P. brevis, P. alexandri) were reviewed in the literature with regard to L. infantum transmission. Thus cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by L. infantum species in the rural area of the USSR was identified for the first time.