BACKGROUND Cutaneous leishmaniasis due to Leishmania major is a serious and increasing problem affecting many rural areas of 17 out of 31 provinces in Iran. Little is known about sand fly fauna and leishmaniases in Eastern Iran and no study has been carried out in Sarbisheh County. The aim of this study was to determine sand flies composition and probable Leishmania infection to find the probab...

Background: Geographical distribution of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) has continuously been extended in recent years in Iran. The Beiza District is one of the newly-emerged endemic foci of ZCL in southern Iran. The main aim of the present study was to detect the vector(s) of ZCL in this area. Methods: To detect the fauna and vectors of ZCL in this district, sand flies were cau...

Background: Leishmaniosis is a prevalent tropical parasitic disease, which is caused by Leishmania protozoa. The infection can be limited in immune-competent individuals; however, in immune-compromised individuals it could proceed to chronic and ulcerative disease. The reservoirs are carnivores, and rodents and its vectors are Phlebotomus and Lutzumia. Methods: The prevalence of different spice...

Phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera, Psychodidae) are important vectors of human pathogens. Moreover, they possess monoxenous parasites, including gregarines of the genus Psychodiella Votypka, Lantova, and Volf, which can negatively affect laboratory-reared colonies, and have been considered as potential candidates in biological control. In this study, effects of the gregarine Psychodiella sergent...

Visceral leishmaniasis is a deadly parasitic disease that is transmitted via the bite of a female sand fly, Phlebotomus argentipes. The highest burden of this disease is in northern India. In 2005, India embarked on an initiative with Nepal, Bangladesh, and the World Health Organization to eliminate visceral leishmaniasis by 2015. With the goal of 1 case in 10,000 people still unmet, it is prud...

visceral leishmanisasis is endemic and zoonotic in several foci in ardabil province, north west of iran. the main objective of this study was to determine the natural promastigote infection of sand-flies in active seasons, during 1991-1995. sand-flies were caught by sticky traps, aspirator and cdc light traps from indoors and outdoors. altogether 2659 sandflies were dissected and identified. th...

Sand fly (Diptera: Phlebotominae) fauna were surveyed in various districts of Sanliurfa in southeast Turkey for 3 yr immediately after an epidemic of cutaneous leishmaniasis (Leishmania tropica). Sticky papers and CDC light traps collected a total of 10,937 sand flies, of which 10,919 (4,158 females and 6,761 males) were identified as Phlebotomus and 18 (11 females and seven males) as Sergentom...