Ecology of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Sinai: linking parasites, vectors and hosts

• Main Authors: Samy,Abdallah Mohammed, Doha,Said Abdallah, Kenawy,Mohamed Amin
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde 2014
• Subjects: sandfly; Phlebotomus; leishmaniasis; Leishmania major; Sinai; Egypt; Rattus rattus
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0074-02762014000300299

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a neglected clinical form of public health importance that is quite prevalent in the northern and eastern parts of Egypt. A comprehensive study over seven years (January 2005-December 2011) was conducted to track CL transmission with respect to both sandfly vectors and animal reservoirs. The study identified six sandfly species collected from different districts in North Sinai: Phlebotomus papatasi, Phlebotomus kazeruni, Phlebotomus sergenti, Phlebotomus alexandri, Sergentomyia antennata and Sergentomyia clydei. Leishmania (-)-like flagellates were identified in 15 P. papatasi individuals (0.5% of 3,008 dissected females). Rodent populations were sampled in the same districts where sandflies were collected and eight species were identified: Rattus norvegicus (n = 39), Rattus rattus frugivorous (n = 13), Rattus rattus alexandrinus (n = 4), Gerbillus pyramidum floweri (n = 38), Gerbillus andersoni (n = 28), Mus musculus (n = 5), Meriones sacramenti (n = 22) and Meriones crassus (n = 10). Thirty-two rodents were found to be positive for Leishmania infection (20.12% of 159 examined rodents). Only Leishmania major was isolated and identified in 100% of the parasite samples. The diversity of both the vector and rodent populations was examined using diversity indices and clustering approaches.