In visceral leishmaniasis, phlebotomine vectors are targets for control measures. Understanding the ecosystem of the vectors is a prerequisite for creating these control measures. This study endeavours to delineate the suitable locations of Phlebotomus argentipes with relation to environmental characteristics between endemic and non-endemic districts in India. A cross-sectional survey was condu...

Phlebotomus argentipes Annandale and Brunetti (Diptera : Psychodidae) is the major Indian vector of visceral leishmaniasis (VL), caused by Leishmania donovani. However, whilst the geographic range of P. argentipes extends from Iran and Afghanistan in the west to Malaysia and Indonesia in the southeast1, VL is confined to northeastern and southern India, and neighbouring Nepal and Bangladesh2,3....

In the 19(th) century, a devastating epidemic of visceral leishmaniasis (kala-azar) swept through northeast India. After identification of the pathogenic agent, Leishmania donovani, in 1903, the question of its transmission remained to be resolved. In 1904, thanks to work by L. Rogers on cultures of this parasite it became probable that a haematophagous arthropod was responsible for transmissio...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether the use of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINS) at household level are effective in reducing the abundance of Phlebotomus argentipes, vector of anthroponotic visceral leishmaniasis in India, Nepal and Bangladesh. METHODS The impact of two long-lasting nets (Olyset and PermaNet) on indoor sandfly abundance was evaluated in selected houses of three endemic hamle...

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 pru...

BACKGROUND Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a deadly vector-borne disease. Approximately 90% of Indian VL cases occur in Bihar, where the sand fly, Phlebotomus argentipes, is the principal vector. Sand fly control in Bihar consists of indoor residual spraying (IRS), the practice of spraying the inner walls of village dwellings with insecticides. Prior researchers have evaluated success of IRS-con...

During a research project aimed at the study of the Culicinae fauna of Gabon and carried out in the National Park of La Lopé, we captured an unknown sandfly male specimen (genus Phlebotomus) by CDC miniature light trap belonging to a new species for Science. Furthermore, the originality of his genitalia does not allow us to include this species in one of the existing subgenus, thus in this pape...