Abstract
Zoonotic Visceral leishmaniasis (ZVL) is a neglected tropical disease that in the Americas is caused by the infection of Leishmania infantum and the domestic dog (Canis familiaris) is the main parasite reservoir in urban areas. The parasite is mainly transmitted by populations of the sibling species Lutzomyia longipalpis that has been spreading in countries including Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and more recently Uruguay. Although bionomic parameters such as population survival and the duration of the gonotrophic cycle are critical in evaluating vector capacity, field studies have rarely been applied to sand fly populations. The present study sought to evaluate basic bionomic parameters related to the vectorial capacity of the (S)-9-methylgermacrene-B population of the Lu. longipalpis complex in a visceral leishmaniasis area of Sao Paulo state. The daily survival rate, the duration of the gonotrophic cycle and the dispersal pattern were evaluated through the mark- release-recapture method. A total of 1,547 males and 401 females were marked and released in five experiments carried out between February 2013 and February 2014. The higher recapture rates occurred within 100 meters of the release point and the estimated daily survival rates varied between 0.69 and 0.89 for females and between 0.69 and 0.79 for males. The minimum duration of the gonotrophic cycle observed was five days. The absolute population size, calculated ranged from 900 to 4,857 females and from 2,882 to 9,543 males. Our results demonstrate a high survival rate of this vector population and low dispersal that could be associated with the presence of all necessary conditions for its establishment and maintenance in the peridomiciles of this area. Our findings contribute to the basic data necessary for the understanding of ZVL dynamics and the evaluation of the implementation of prevention and control measures.
Highlights
Visceral leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) that presents a complex dynamic influenced by socioeconomic factors such as poverty and limited access to health services [1,2] and specific biological factors related to vector and host ecology parameters as well as natural interactions between etiological agents, hosts and vectors [3,4]
In Latin America the need to clarify some key aspects of leishmaniasis transmission [6] and the failure of control programs together with the emergence of Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in new geographical areas in South America [7,8] stress the importance of this observation
Lower recapture rates have been reported [33] in Campo Grande-MS (Brazil), this result may have been affected by the long interval of the recapture attempts
Summary
Visceral leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) that presents a complex dynamic influenced by socioeconomic factors such as poverty and limited access to health services [1,2] and specific biological factors related to vector and host ecology parameters as well as natural interactions between etiological agents, hosts and vectors [3,4]. Though the Brazilian northeast region is the most affected, recently VL has emerged in several areas of the Southeast region, an event associated mainly with the dispersion of populations of the Lu. longipalpis sibling species [17,18]. Ecological differences in these populations could be associated with different epidemiological patterns of VL transmission as suggested by Casanova et al [17] in relation to Sao Paulo State
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