ABSTRACT
The abundance of phlebotomine sandflies was studied in a leishmaniasis endemic area in Baringo District; Rift Valley Province; Kenya. This was based on sandfly behaviors at night in their natural habitats of termite hills and animal burrows. Sandflies were collected with an entry-exit trap which has a sieve fixed at the middle to control sandfly movements. Flies were trapped from 1800-0600 hours. Phlebotomus martini (Parrot) were significantly more abundant in termite hills than in animal burrows (P 0.05). Phlebotomus duboscqi (Neveu-Lemaire) were found to favour animal burrows more than termite hills (P 0.05). Nocturnal movements and activities showed that the majority of the sandflies were exiting from termite hills and animal burrows from 1800-2400 hours while from 2400-0600 hours; the majority of the sandflies were entering termite hills and animal burrows (P0.05). Sergentomyia (Theodor) species showed mixed preferences for these two habitats. Sergentomyia schwetzi (Aldler; Theodor et Pam favoured termite hills more than animal burrows but S. clydei (Sinton) showed great preference for animal burrows. The nocturnal activities or preferences of habitats by phlebotomine sandflies have epidemiological significance in that control measures can be directed to these habitats with a certain degree of accuracy for the vectors of visceral and cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Kenya
Subject(s)
Diptera , Leishmaniasis , Phlebotomus , PsychodidaeABSTRACT
Direct enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to identify the sources of 356 phlebotomine sandfly bloodmeals from Baringo District; Rift Valley Province; Kenya. Some bloodmeals had been stored for over 4 years before being analysed. Of the 356 sandflies; 62.9 were phlebotomus martini; 14.8 Sergentomyia antennatus; 10.0 S. schwetzi; 6.0 S. clydei; 1.9 S. adleri; 1.6 P. duboscqi; 1.4 S. africanus; and 0.8 S. bedfordi. Out of 224 P. martini bloodmeals; host source was identified for 69. The order of host prefernce for P. martini was: goat 28.5; rabbit 22.7 human 8.9 and other 8.9. Evidence of mixed feeding was shown by 16 sandflies comprising 4 species; 12 of these were P. martini. The most effective methods for trapping bloodfed P. martini; were sticky paper traps in termite hills; followed by light-traps. Of the 224 P. martini trapped; 58.9 were collected with paper traps in termite hills; and 22.7 with light traps. The role played by the 3 most popular hosts for P. martini should be investigated to ascertain whether they act as reservoirs in the transmission of visceral leishmaniasis in Kenya