ABSTRACT Notifications concerning American tegumentary leishmaniasis (ATL) are increasing in the northern areas of Brazil, particularly due to ongoing increase human settlements inside Amazon Forest. Notwithstanding economical and sanitary importance ATL, ecological aspects its potential vectors, Phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae), remains largely neglected. This study aimed investi...

The incidence of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis has not only been recognized but is, in fact, increasing in territories of northern continental Italy previously regarded as non-endemic. Recent findings of sporadic autochthonous canine infections and the presence of phlebotomine vectors in some provinces of north-eastern Italy have stimulated risk assessment for the spreading of leishmaniasis i...

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a potentially lethal, sand fly-borne disease caused by protozoan parasites belonging to the Leishmania donovani species complex. There are several adequate methods for diagnosing VL, but the majority of infected individuals remain asymptomatic, comprising potential parasite reservoirs for transmission of the disease. The gold standard for assessing host infectious...

In this study, a genotypification of Leishmania was performed using polimerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and sequencing techniques to identify species of Leishmania parasites in phlebotomine sand flies and dogs naturally infected. Between January-February of 2009, CDC light traps were used to collect insect samples from 13 capture sites in the municipali...

background: phlebotomus perniciosus and phlebotomus longicuspis are two phlebotomine sand fly species morphologically similar and differing in males only by the shape of the copulatory valves which are bifurcated in p. perniciosus , tip long and tapered in p. longicuspis . methods: a count of the median coxite setae was carried out on 208 specimens from the collections of dedet and of parrot, i...

BACKGROUND Phlebotomine sand flies are blood-sucking insects that can transmit Leishmania parasites. Hosts bitten by sand flies develop an immune response against sand fly salivary antigens. Specific anti-saliva IgG indicate the exposure to the vector and may also help to estimate the risk of Leishmania spp. transmission. In this study, we examined the canine antibody response against the saliv...

BACKGROUND Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) is a vector-borne infectious disease, caused by the protozoan Leishmania donovani, which is transmitted by phlebotomine sand flies. In an earlier study in Bihar, India, we found an association between incidence of VL and housing conditions. In the current study we investigated the influence of housing structure and conditions in and around the house on the...

The repellency and insecticidal efficacy of Nopikex®, a soap formulation containing 20% diethyl toluamide and 0.5% permethrin, was evaluated against a laboratory colony of phlebotomine sand flies (Lutzomya longipalpis). The repellency of Nopikex soap was also compared with that of a placebo soap against another species (Lu. Youngi) in a forest near Tulua, Valle del Cauca, Colombia. In laborator...

A study on the phlebotomine sand fly fauna in Belo Horizonte city, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, was carried out. From April 2001 to March 2003, monthly systematic collections were performed in three houses from each of the nine regions of the city, using CDC light traps for four consecutive days. The traps were set into the houses and in peridomestic areas totaling 54 traps. A number of 3871 ...