CDCminiature light traps were used to evaluate the general biology of phlebotomine sand ßies from April 2003 to November 2004 at Tallil Air Base, Iraq. Factors evaluated include species diversity and temporal (daily and seasonal) and geographic distribution of the sand ßies. In addition, the abundance of sand ßies inside and outside tents and buildings was observed. In total, 61,630 sand ßies w...

Following an epidemiological survey of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniosis (ZCL) in some villages of Badrood, a rural district north of the city of Natanz, central Iran, Phlebotomus (Phlebotomus ) papatasi Scopoli were found to be naturally infected with Leishmania (Leishmania) major zymodeme MON-26. Sandflies were collected and dissected biweekly from rodent burrows during sandfly season, Ap...

The feeding time for sand fly females was determined experimentally by feeding of thirty females (3-5 days-old) sand fly Phlebotomus papatasi on different blood sources (human, pigeon, hamster and blab C mice). Mean feeding time was longest on blab C mice, 8.55 minutes, followed by hamster, 7.05 minutes, then pigeon, 4.84minutes, and finally human, 4.69 minutes. Significant difference was obser...

Leishmania parasites are inoculated into host skin together with sand fly saliva and multiple exposures to uninfected sand fly bites protect mice against Leishmania infection. However, sand fly vectors differ in composition of the saliva and therefore the protection elicited by their salivary proteins was shown to be species-specific. On the other hand, the optimal vaccine based on sand fly sal...

Phlebotomus perniciosus is one of the major vectors of Leishmania infantum in the Mediterranean basin. The aim of this work was (i) to provide information about abundance and temporal dynamics of this Larroussius species in a hot spot area of visceral leishmaniasis in Tunisia, (ii) to detect L. infantum DNA in wild caught female sandflies and (iii) to measure Phlebotomus perniciosus infection r...

Shirvan district in north-eastern Islamic Republic of Iran is a new focus of visceral leishmaniasis. This study aimed to identify the vector(s), the parasite and the species composition of sand flies in the district during July-September 2009 using polymerase chain reaction techniques. In all, 2088 sand flies were collected from 3 villages. Nine sand fly species were identified: Phlebotomus kan...

A faunistic study of Phlebotominae (Diptera: Psychodidae) sand flies was carried out in northern Cyprus. A total of 12,517 sand flies (3,285 males and 9,232 females) was collected from 20 different localities in July and September 2004. Nine species belonging to genus Phlebotomus and 3 species of genus Sergentomyia were identified. Of these, the presence of the species Phlebotomus neglectus Ton...