Abstract
In a survey of Leishmania infections in phlebotomine sandflies in a highly suspected focus of leishmaniasis in the Awash Valley (northeastern Ethiopia) between January 1994 and August 1997, a total of 3307 females of 11 Phlebotomus species ( P. orientalis, P. fantalensis, P. saevus, P. sergenti, P. gemetchi, P. alexandri, P. bergeroti, P. duboscqi, P. arabicus, P. martini, and P. rodhaini) were dissected. Promastigotes were detected in 17 females of three species (11 P. saevus, 4 P. sergenti and 2 P. arabicus). Of these, only two P. saevus (one from Upper Awash and one from Middle Awash) and three P. sergenti (from Upper Awash) positives were successfully isolated in culture and were typed by isoenzyme analysis. Four isolates (two each from P. saevus and P. sergenti) were identified as new zymodemes (Z) of L. tropica and one isolate from P. sergenti was typed as a new zymodeme of L. aethiopica. This is the first finding of natural infections of P. saevus and P. arabicus and the first evidence for the former to be a vector of L. tropica. This is also the first time P. sergenti has been implicated in L. tropica transmission in Ethiopia; the isolation of L. aethiopica from a Paraphlebotomus species ( P. sergenti) is also a new record. The possible presence of human cutaneous leishmaniasis ( L. tropica and L. aethiopica), and wild reservoir host(s) of the parasites, especially rock hyrax ( Procavia capensis) in the Upper and Middle Awash Valley remain to be determined.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
More From: Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.