Canine cutaneous leishmaniasis by Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis in an agricultural settlement, endemic area for leishmaniasis / Leishmaniose tegumentar canina por Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis em um assentamento agrícola, área endêmica para leishmanioses

Cutaneous leishmaniasis has several species of Leishmania as agents, and a wide variety of wild and domestic animals as hosts and different species of phlebotomines as vectors. A case of cutaneous leishmaniasis in a dog coming from an agricultural settlement is described. This is the first report of parasitism in a dog by Le. (Viannia) braziliensis in Mato Grosso do Sul State. Attention is called to the importance of including this protozoonosis in the differential diagnosis of dermopathies in dogs as also the need to assess the importance of the domestic dog as a possible reservoir of Le. braziliensis.(AU)

As leishmanioses tegumentares são antropozoonoses metaxênicas de importância em saúde pública. Possuem como agentes etiológicos várias espécies de Leishmania, com ampla variedade de hospedeiros, como animais selvagens e domésticos, e diferentes espécies de flebotomíneos como vetores. Um caso de leishmaniose tegumentar em um cão procedente de um assentamento agrícola em Mato Grosso do Sul é descrito, sendo este o primeiro relato de parasitismo em cão doméstico nesse estado por Le. (Viannia) braziliensis. Alerta-se para a importância de se incluir essa protozoonose no diagnóstico diferencial de dermopatias em cães e para a necessidade de se avaliar o papel do cão doméstico como reservatório de Le. (Vi.) braziliensis.(AU)

Attractiveness of black Shannon trap for phlebotomines

A white Shannon-type trap was used for captures of female sand flies in the search for natural infection with flagellates, however, due to its low productivity and as a large number of phlebotomines settled on the researchers' black clothes, we decided to compare the relative attractiveness of black and white Shannon-type traps for sand flies. Several pairs of black and white traps were placed side by side in front of caves in four areas in the Serra da Bodoquena, Bonito county, State of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, for a total of 12 observations and 44 h of capture. The experiment resulted in 889 phlebotomines captured, 801 on the black and 88 on the white trap, representing 13 species. The hourly Williams' means were 8.67 and 1.24, respectively, and the black/white ratio was 7.0:1.0. Lutzomyia almerioi, an anthropophilic species closely associated with caves, was predominant (89 percent). Only two other species, Nyssomyia whitmani and Psathyromyia punctigeniculata, also anthropophilic, were significantly attracted to the black rather than to the white trap (chi2 test; p <= 0.01). The difference between the diversity index of the two traps was not significant at level 0.05. The black trap in these circumstances was much more productive than the white, especially for anthropophilic species

Influence of altitude, latitude and season of collection (Bergmann's Rule) on the dimensions of Lutzomyia intermedia (Lutz & Neiva, 1912) (diptera, psychodidae, phlebotominae)

The influence of altitude and latitude on some structure sizes of Lutzomyia intermedia was noted; several structures of insects collected in higher localities were greater, according to Bergmann's rule. This influence was more remarkable in two localities of the State of Espírito Santo, probably due to greater differences in altitude. Comparing insects from different latitudes, more differences were noted in comparisons of insects from low altitude localities than in those of material from higher altitudes. The small number of differences between insects collected in July and in December does not indicate a defined influence of season and temperature on the size of adults. The possible epidemiological implications of these variations are discussed.

Aspectos ecologicos da leishmaniose tegumentar americana: 8. avaliacao da atividade enzootica de Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis, em ambiente florestal e peridomiciliar, regiao do vale do Ribeira, Estado de Sao Paulo, Brasil / Ecological aspects of American tegumentary leishmaniasis: 8. Evaluation of the enzootic activity of Leishmania (Vianna) braziliensis, in forest and peridomiciliary environments of the Ribeira Valey region, Sao Paulo State, Brazil

A evidencia da transmissao extraflorestal da leishmaniose cutaneo-mucosa na regiao do Vale do Ribeira ensejou o presente estudo epidemiologico prospectivo, visando avaliar a atividade enzootica de L. (V.) braziliensis. A pesquisa paratisologica da infeccao natural em pequenos mamiferos e populacao canina foi complementada com o teste de imunofluorescencia indireta (IFI) para caes e captura de flebotomineos em ambiente florestal e peridomiciliar. A positividade para o teste sorologico e exame parasitologico somente foi observada para caes residentes e com taxas de 5,6 e 2,4 por cento, respectivamente. Entre animais silvestres e sinantropicos capturados, destacam-se os pertencentes a Oryzomys (Oligoryzomys) e Rattus rattus, ambos assinalados em proporcoes equivalentes (29,3 por cento) em ambiente peridomiciliar. Foram capturados apenas 166 exemplares femininos de Lutzomyia intermedia, fato atribuido a borrifacao das habitacoes humanas e anexos com DDT. No contexto epidemiologico mais amplo, discute-se a fragilidade do ciclo extraflorestal da L. (V.) braziliensis; o papel do cao e de pequenos mamiferos, como fonte de infeccao domiciliar, alem de analisar o potencial deles na dispersao do parasita na area estudada