Some ecological characteristics of phlebotomine sandflies in a focus of cutaneous leishmaniasis, Chabahar, Iran

ABSTRACT

Leishmaniasis is one of the main health problems in Iran. The purpose of this study was to determine species composition, sex ratio and relative abundance of sandfliesas vectors of cutaneous leishmaniasis. This cross-sectional study was conducted in Chabahar, Iran. Sandflies were caught using sticky traps. Traps were installed in 21 rural and urban areas. A total of 17859 sandflieswere caught. Species caught including Phlebotomus papatasi Scopoli, P. salehi Mesghali, P. sergenti Parrot, P. alexandri Sinton, P. kazeruni Theodor and Mesghali, P. bergeroti Parrot, P. mesghali Seyedi-Rashti and Nadim,P. elaenorae Sinton, Sergentomyia clydei Sinton, S.sintoni Pringle, S. tiberiadis Adler, Theodor and Lourie, S. baghdadis Adler and Theodor, S. hodgsoni Sinton, S. dentate Sinton, S. africana Newstead, S. dreyfussi Theodor and Mesghali,S. mervynae Pringle, S. iranica Lewis and Mesghali and S. christophersi Sinton. Seven species, including P. elaenorae, P. kazeruni, S. hodgsoni, S. dreyfussi, S. mervynae, S. iranica and S. christophersi are reported for the first time in Chabahar. P. papatasi and P. salehi respectively play the role of primary and secondary vectors of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Chabahar city, due to their high abundance, presence in all the monthly activities, presence in all areas affected with oriental sore and finding leptomonad infection in them.