BACKGROUND Sand fly saliva helps parasite establishment and induce immune responses in vertebrate hosts. In the current study, we investigated the modulation of Phlebotomus papatasi salivary gland antigen expression by seasonal and biological factors. METHODS Sand flies were grouped according to physiological stages such as unfed, fed, semi-gravid, gravid, parous, nulliparous, infected or non...

Great gerbils (Rhombomys opimus) are the most common gerbils in center to northeast of Iran as well as central Asia and serve as reservoirs for the zoonotic agents, including Leishmania major, the principal etiologic agent of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL). The outcome of L. major infection in gerbils is not uniform. Among several immune-related factors including cytokine genes, the pol...

Background: Zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) due to Leishmania major is increasing in many parts of Iran. This disease originally is a disease found in gerbils. Leishmania parasites are transmitted by sandflies that live and breed in gerbil burrows. Nested PCR amplified Leishmania ITS1-5.8S rRNA gene in both main reservoir host “Rhombomys opimus” and in the “Phlebotomus papatasi” main vec...

Two filarioid nematodes, Litomosoides andersoni n. sp. and Litomosoides ctenomyos n. sp. (Nemata: Onchocercidae), are described from the mesenteries of the subterranean rodent Ctenomys opimus (Rodentia: Hystrichognathi) collected on the altiplano of Bolivia. Specimens collected near Rancho Huancaroma (Oruro Dept.) in 1984 and 1986 can be recognized as undescribed by the structures of the spicul...

Reliable estimates are lacking of key epizootiologic parameters for plague caused by Yersinia pestis infection in its natural reservoirs. We report results of a 3-year longitudinal study of plague dynamics in populations of a maintenance host, the great gerbil (Rhombomys opimus), in 2 populations in Kazakhstan. Serologic results suggest a mid-summer peak in the abundance of infectious hosts and...

The great gerbil, Rhombomys opimus, is the most social species in the Gerbillinae. The social structure consists of family groups that occupy isolated systems of burrows consisting of one breeding male, from one to seven females, and juveniles. During a year of peak density and one of density decline, we studied the influence of group size, group composition, local density, and distance to the ...

background: an epidemiological study was carried out on the vector(s) and reservoir(s) of cutaneous leishmaniasis in rural areas of kalaleh district, golestan province during 2006 - 2007. methods: totally 4900 sand flies were collected using sticky papers and were subjected to molecular methods for de­tection of leishmanial parasite. results: phlebotomus papatasi was the common species in outdo...

background: zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (zcl) due to leishmania major is increasing in many parts of iran. this disease originally is a disease found in gerbils. leishmania parasites are transmitted by sandflies that live and breed in gerbil burrows. nested pcr amplified leishmania its1-5.8s rrna gene in both main reservoir host “rhombomys opimus” and in the “phlebotomus papatasi” main vec...

introduction: leishmanioses are important parasitic diseases presenting in three clinical forms visceral, cutaneous and muco-cutaneous. some rodents are the reservoir hosts of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis. the disease prevails in many rural areas of yazd province. this was the first comprehensive study on the fauna of rodents in yazd and was conducted to determine the fauna, distribution an...