Abstract
BackgroundThe Greek island of Crete is endemic for both visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and recently increasing cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). This study summarizes published data on the sand fly fauna of Crete, the results of new sand fly samplings and the description of a new sand fly species.MethodsAll published and recent samplings were carried out using CDC light traps, sticky traps or mouth aspirators. The specific status of Phlebotomus (Adlerius) creticus n. sp., was assessed by morphological analysis, cytochrome b (cytb) sequencing and MALDI-TOF protein profiling.ResultsPublished data revealed the presence of 10 Phlebotomus spp. and 2 Sergentomyia spp. During presented field work, 608 specimens of 8 species of Phlebotomus and one species of Sergentomyia were collected. Both published data and present samplings revealed that the two most common and abundant species were Phlebotomus neglectus, a proven vector of Leishmania infantum causing VL, and Ph. similis, a suspected vector of L. tropica causing CL. In addition, the field surveys revealed the presence of a new species, Ph. (Adlerius) creticus n. sp.ConclusionsThe identification of the newly described species is based on both molecular and morphological criteria, showing distinct characters of the male genitalia that differentiate it from related species of the subgenus Adlerius as well as species-specific sequence of cytb and protein spectra generated by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry.
Highlights
The Greek island of Crete is endemic for both visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and recently increasing cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL)
Crete is endemic for VL and canine leishmaniasis in dogs (CanL) caused by L. infantum, with an increasing number of CL every year caused by L. tropica whilst the danger of the introduction of new species/zymodemes is enhanced by the arrival of refugees from endemic areas [6]
In this study we present a review of sand fly species recorded in the past and at present in Crete, an island with ongoing transmission of two Leishmania species due to the presence of competent sand fly vectors
Summary
The Greek island of Crete is endemic for both visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and recently increasing cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). This study summarizes published data on the sand fly fauna of Crete, the results of new sand fly samplings and the description of a new sand fly species. Four medically important Leishmania species circulate in various regions of the Mediterranean basin: L. infantum causing both zoonotic visceral (VL) and anthroponotic cutaneous (CL) leishmaniasis in humans. Crete is endemic for VL and CanL caused by L. infantum, with an increasing number of CL every year caused by L. tropica whilst the danger of the introduction of new species/zymodemes is enhanced by the arrival of refugees from endemic areas [6]. The main aims of this study were to review historical data on the sand fly fauna of Crete and describe a new Phlebotomus (Adlerius) species sampled during surveys carried out from 2014 to 2019. To confirm the status of the new species, in addition to morphological and genetic criteria, for the first time, protein profiling using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry was deployed
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