According to the WHO, infectious diseases, and in particular neglected tropical diseases in poor developing countries, still play a significant role in a vast number of deaths reported worldwide. Among them, leishmaniasis occurs as a complex and clinically diverse illness caused by protozoan Leishmania species which are transmitted through the bite of sandflies. They develop through a complex l...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES The recently recognized endemic focus of leishmaniasis in Satluj river valley in Himachal Pradesh (India) lies in north-western Himalayas (30 degrees N, 70 degrees E). This endemic focus of leishmaniasis appears peculiar where localized cutaneous leishmaniasis (LCL) co-exists with visceral leishmaniasis (VL), and Leishmania donovani is predominant pathogen for LCL wherea...

The phlebotomine fauna of Campo Grande city, capital of Mato Grosso do Sul state in Brazil, an endemic area for visceral leishmaniasis, has been thoroughly investigated, but all the insect collections were undertaken with automatic light traps. The present study sought to investigate the fauna in this city using Shannon and Disney traps, having human beings and hamsters, respectively, as bait. ...

Climate change is expected to manifest in the shift of organisms to regions where they were not present in the past, potentially entailing previously unseen biological risks. However, studies evaluating these future trends are scarce. Here, an important group of vectors (sandflies) and the pathogen transmitted (Leishmania infantum complex) causing the infectious disease visceral leishmaniasis i...

The number of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) cases has increased over the past 10 years in Brazil, especially in the North and Northeast regions of the country. The aim of this study was to evaluate the urbanisation of VL vectors in Barcarena, Pará, an area in northern Brazil where VL is endemic. Sandflies were captured using Centers for Disease Control (CDC) light traps along an urban-rural gradi...

An American cutaneous leishmaniasis outbreak, with cases clustering during 1993 in Tartagal city, Salta, was reported. The outbreak involved 102 individuals, 43.1% of them with multiple ulcers. Age (mean: 33 years old) and sex distribution of cases (74.5% males), as well as working activity (70 forest-related), support the hypothesis of classical forest transmission leishmaniasis, despite the f...

Editor – Vector resistance to insecticides has been highlighted by Kasap et al. in their comparative study relating to malaria in Turkey (1). In India, phlebotomine sandflies used to be considered highly susceptible to all insecticides; but indiscriminate use poses a problem of resistance, for example, in Bihar, where spraying with DDT has continued since 1976 (2). Resistance to DDT in Phleboto...