FLIES PHLEBOTOMUS SERGENTI AND P. PAPATASI IN A CUTANEOUS

• Main Authors: K. -p. Chang, Petr Volf
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Rattus rattus
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.585.784; http://intl.ajtmh.org/content/68/1/6.full.pdf

Abstract. Sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) and rodents were collected in the endemic focus of urban cutaneous leishmaniasis in Sanliurfa, Turkey. Phlebotomus sergenti and P. papatasi represented 99 % of the sand fly population. These flies were trapped in highest numbers in animal sheds, followed by cellars. However, P. sergenti was relatively more abundant in rooms. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay of the gut contents from blood-fed females detected immunoglobulins specific to birds and mammals, suggesting that both species are opportunistic feeders, although poultry is a frequent blood source of P. sergenti. Blood sources include black rats (Rattus rattus) and house mice (Mus domes-ticus); these rodents are abundant inside houses, and might have a role in parasite circulation. Phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Phlebotominae) are vec-tors of leishmaniasis, a disease caused by several species of the genus Leishmania (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae). Different species of the parasite are transmitted by specific sand fly vectors. Sanliurfa, located in southeastern Turkey on the border with Syria, is an endemic focus of anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) caused by genetically homo-geneous Leishmania tropica.1,2 Phlebotomus sergenti, a vector