【Abstract】 Objective To survey reservoir hosts of desert-type kala-azar in Tarim Basin. Methods Collect animal samples in winter, and screen the samples which antibody were positive by ELISA. Leishmania was isolated by Lagurus lagurus inoculation and tissue culture. The specific gene sequences of Leishmania infantum isolated from kala?azar patients, Yarkend hare and Phlebotomus wui were amplified by molecular biological technology. Results There was Leishmania antibodies in Yarkend hare and Canis familiaris, and 3 strains of Leishmania were isolated from 44 of Yarkend hare which antibodies were positive. The NAGT gene sequences amplified from hares (3 strains), patients (1 strain) and vectors (6 strains) were same, according with the sequence of  L.infantum (AF205934)  from GenBank.  Conclusion It suggests that yarkend hare is one of the primal host of desert-type kala-azar in Tarim Basin.