Groundbreaking studies of phlebotomine sand fly populations in Assis Brasil, State of Acre, Brazil, resulted in the collection of 13 new records of phlebotomine sand flies and one previously undescribed species. Lutzomyia naiffi sp. nov. is described here. The new species is similar to Lutzomyia columbiana (Ristorcelli & Van Ty) in measurements and other morphological characters.

A descriptive study is presented of sand-fly fauna in Bolivar State, Venezuela. Identification was made of 2,364 sand-flies belonging to 18 species. The vectors of American cutaneous leishmaniasis in the different geographic regions of Bolivar State are possibly L. anduzei, L. wellcomei and L. squamiventris in the South, and L. flaviscutellata and L. gomezi in the North.

Although once associated only with rural areas, the American leishmaniasis vectors now appear to be associated also with urban and suburban areas of the Neotropics. Following the appearance of the first autochthonous visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis cases in the urban area of the city of Sincelejo, Colombia, a preliminary entomological survey of the sand fly species composition was performe...

The brain cell karyotypes of six New World sand flies are described and compared. Lutzomyia trapidoi has three pairs of chromosomes, 2N = 6. The other species, L. gomezi, L. erwindonaldoi, L. carmelinoi, L. walkeri and L. columbiana, have four pairs of chromosomes, 2N = 8. No heteromorphic chromosomes were observed. Cytogenetic similarities among sand fly species are discussed.

A two-year study was conducted of phlebotomine sand fly fauna in a defined focus of Leishmania tropica. A total of 17,947 sand flies representing 10 species were collected from the location. Phlebotomus guggisbergi, a vector of L. tropica in Kenya, was the most prevalent species through the entire period, representing about 80% of the total catch. There was marked seasonal fluctuation in the po...

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is endemic in over 80 countries of the world, encompassing almost five continents. According to the World Health Organization, leishmaniasis has an estimated incidence of twelve million worldwide.2 Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease caused by a haemoflagellate Leishmania. It is transmitted to humans by the bite of female sand flies, of which there are 30 species. The e...

Leishmania infantum chagasi causes visceral leishmaniasis (VL); it is transmitted by the sand fly Lutzomyia longipalpis that injects saliva and parasites into the host's skin during a blood meal. Chickens represent an important blood source for sand flies and their presence in the endemic area is often cited as a risk factor for VL transmission. However, the role of chickens in VL epidemiology ...

Leishmaniasis is a vectorborne disease transmitted to human and other mammalian hosts by sand fly bite. In the present study, we show that immunization with Leishmania mexicana promastigote secretory gel (PSG) or with a chemically defined synthetic glycovaccine containing the glycans found in L. mexicana PSG can provide significant protection against challenge by the bite of infected sand flies...

BACKGROUND Sand flies deliver Leishmania parasites to a host alongside salivary molecules that affect infection outcomes. Though some proteins are immunogenic and have potential as markers of vector exposure, their identity and vector specificity remain elusive. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We screened human, dog, and fox sera from endemic areas of visceral leishmaniasis to identify potenti...

BACKGROUND Recombinant KSAC and L110f are promising Leishmania vaccine candidates. Both antigens formulated in stable emulsions (SE) with the natural TLR4 agonist MPL® and L110f with the synthetic TLR4 agonist GLA in SE protected BALB/c mice against L. major infection following needle challenge. Considering the virulence of vector-transmitted Leishmania infections, we vaccinated BALB/c mice wit...