In nature the prevalence of Leishmania infection in whole sand fly populations can be very low (<0.1%), even in areas of endemicity and high transmission. It has long since been assumed that the protozoan parasite Leishmania can manipulate the feeding behavior of its sand fly vector, thus enhancing transmission efficiency, but neither the way in which it does so nor the mechanisms behind such m...

Numerous experimental vaccines have been developed to protect against the cutaneous and visceral forms of leishmaniasis caused by infection with the obligate intracellular protozoan Leishmania, but a human vaccine still does not exist. Remarkably, the efficacy of anti-Leishmania vaccines has never been fully evaluated under experimental conditions following natural vector transmission by infect...

Numerous experimental Leishmania vaccines have been developed to prevent the visceral and cutaneous forms of Leishmaniasis, which occur after exposure to the bite of an infected sand fly, yet only one is under evaluation in humans. KSAC and L110f, recombinant Leishmania polyproteins delivered in a stable emulsion (SE) with the TLR4 agonists monophosphoryl lipid A or glucopyranosyl lipid A (GLA)...

A new species of sand fly, Pintomyia (Pifanomyia) falcaorum is described from an amber originated from the northern mountain range of Dominican Republic. The male sand fly specimen is well preserved and most features used in Phlebotominae taxonomy are seen with remarkable clarity.

Ivermectin was evaluated as a potential rodent feed-through for the control of immature stages of Phlebotomus papatasi. The survival of sand fly larvae fed feces of Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) that had been fed a diet containing 0, 2, 6, 10, 20, 60, or 100 ppm ivermectin was measured. Sand fly larvae fed the feces of ivermectin-treated hamsters had significantly reduced survival, wit...

sand fly research has a long history in iran beginning with the work of adler, theodor and lourie in 1930 and followed by mesghali’s foundational taxonomic work on sand flies in 1943. since then, research has continued unabated throughout the country and official publications report the existence of at least 44 species of sand flies (26 of the genus phlebotomus and 18 of genus sergentomyia ) in...

In laboratory studies, insecticides (diflubenzuron, novaluron, methoprene and, pyriproxyfen) that have been incorporated into rodent diets were effective as feed-throughs against sand fly larvae. Novaluron also was effective against sand fly larvae at low concentrations and under simulated field conditions. Ivermectin has been shown to be effective as a systemic insecticide, killing 100% of blo...

BACKGROUND Phlebotomine sand flies are the vectors of the leishmaniases, parasitic diseases caused by Leishmania spp. Little is known about the prevalence and diversity of sand fly microflora colonizing the midgut or the cuticle. Particularly, there is little information on the fungal diversity. This information is important for development of vector control strategies. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL ...

BACKGROUND Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease in which Leishmania parasites are transmitted by the bite of phlebotomine sand flies. Amastigotes are ingested by the sand fly vector with a blood meal taken from an infected host. This is followed by their differentiation into metacyclic promastigotes which are selectively released and permitted to migrate interiorly so as to make them availab...