Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is one of the major public health problems in northwest Ethiopia, mainly in Libo-Kemkem and Metema districts, where Phlebotomus orientalis is the most probable vector of the disease. The aim of this study was to determine the physiological age, host preference and vectorial potential of P. orientalis in the highland and lowland foci of the region. Sand flies were col...

BACKGROUND Phlebotomine sand flies are blood-sucking insects transmitting Leishmania parasites. In bitten hosts, sand fly saliva elicits specific immune response and the humoral immunity was shown to reflect the intensity of sand fly exposure. Thus, anti-saliva antibodies were suggested as the potential risk marker of Leishmania transmission. In this study, we examined the long-term kinetics an...

BACKGROUND Different epidemiological studies previously indicated that canine leishmaniasis is present in the region of Thiès (Senegal). However, the risks to human health, the transmission cycle and particularly the implicated vectors are unknown. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS To improve our knowledge on the population of phlebotomine sand flies and the potential vectors of canine leishmani...

Sik,?My thanks are due to Lieutenant Stott and Major Rogers for their criticisms of my paper published in the " Gazette " for August last. Since its publication, Lieutenant-Colonel Birt, K. A.M.C., has very kindly sent me reprints of his recent articles in the Journal of the R. A. M. C. on " Phlebotomus Fever in Malta and Crete" and " Sandfly Fever in India." His clinical description of the fev...

a disease of the dry desert area where phlebotomus papatasii p. sergenti are prevalent. In India cases of oriental sore are prevalent in the dry western zone (western part, 79? east of Greenwitch) where the insect vector is phlebotomies papatasii; on the other hand cases of kala-azar are seen in the eastern humid zone where p. argentipes is the insect vector responsible for the spread of the di...

Leishmania parasites alternate in their life cycle between promastigote stages that develop in the gut of phlebotomine sand flies and amastigotes residing inside phagocytic cells of vertebrate hosts. For experimental infections of sand flies, promastigotes are frequently used as this way of infection is technically easier although ingestion of promastigotes by sand flies is unnatural. Here we a...

Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) is a major health problem in Bihar, India. The disease is caused by a protozoan parasite Leishmania donovani and transmitted by the established vector Phlebotomus argentipes (Diptera: Psychodidae) in India. P. argentipes transmits viral and bacterial pathogens. Nematodes were isolated from the body of P. argentpes for the first time in India. Its role as pathogen is ...

Toscana virus (TOSV), an arthropodborne phlebovirus transmitted by sandflies, can cause febrile illness and meningitis. The vector of TOSV in France was unknown. We detected TOSV RNA in 2 (female Phlebotomus perniciosus) of 61 pools of sandflies captured in southeastern France. Two genotypes of TOSV were identified.