Ornithodoros mimon colonizing a residence in Campinas, state of São Paulo, associated with human parasitism / Ornithodoros mimon colonizando uma residência em Campinas, estado de São Paulo, associado a parasitismo humano

Ornithodoros mimon is an argasid tick species usually associated with bats and marsupials and occasionally parasitizes humans inside their homes. This paper reports a tick infestation in a residence in the municipality of Campinas, located in the interior of the state of São Paulo (SP). This report increases O. mimon occurrence in SP and corroborates its anthropophilic activity. Further studies are needed to clarify its role as a vector of pathogens. We highlighted the presence of O. mimon in an area with a large human population (Campinas) associated with synanthropic animals.(AU)

Ornithodoros mimon é uma espécie de carrapato argasídeo, geralmente associada a morcegos e marsupiais, sendo ocasionalmente relatada parasitando humanos dentro de seus domicílios. Este trabalho relata a infestação por carrapatos em uma residência no município de Campinas, interior do estado de São Paulo (SP). O presente relato amplia a ocorrência de O. mimon no estado de SP, corroborando sua atividade antropofílica, sendo necessários mais estudos para esclarecer o seu possível papel como vetor de patógenos. Destaca-se a presença de O. mimon numa área de grande contingente humano (Campinas), associado a animais sinantrópicos.(AU)

Anthropophilic phlebotomine sand fly Lutzomyia species and search for the natural Leishmania infections in an area endemic for cutaneous leishmaniasis in Ecuador.

By employing protected human bait landing and modified Shannon light trap, a total of 1924 phlebotomine sand fly Lutzomyia spp. were captured in an area from which L. (V.) guyanensis was reported as the causative parasite of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). The sand flies captured alive were dissected and identified at species level, based mainly on their spermathecae. At the same time, the sand flies dissected were searched for the Leishmania parasites by microscopic-test, and later on by PCR-test. No positive sand flies were detected by both tests, while considerable numbers of anthropophilic sand fly species of the genus Lutzomyia were observed as probable vectors of the Leishmania parasite in the areas. Those were eight species, Lu. robusta, Lu. trapidoi, Lu. maranonensis, Lu. gomezi, Lu. shannoni, Lu. migonei, Lu. punctigeniculata and Lu. spathotrichia. Among them, the first two species Lu. robusta and Lu. trapidoi were most dominant, suggesting probable vectors of the Leishmania parasite prevailing in the area. Lu. punctigeniculata and Lu. spathotrichia were for the first time recorded for the Manabí province, Ecuador. These findings provide basic information useful for future planning of the control and management of the disease in the areas, though further study to incriminate the vector sand fly remains.

Visceral Leishmaniasis in Traveler to Guyana Caused by Leishmania siamensis, London, UK.

The parasite Leishmania siamensis is a zoonotic agent of leishmaniasis; infection in animals has been documented in Europe and the United States. Reported authochthonous human infections have been limited to Thailand. We report a case of human visceral Leishmania siamensis infection acquired in Guyana, suggesting colonization in South America.

Distribution of sibling species of Anopheles culicifacies s.l. and Anopheles fluviatilis s.l. and their vectorial capacity in eight different malaria endemic districts of Orissa, India

The study was undertaken in eight endemic districts of Orissa, India, to find the members of the species complexes of Anopheles culicifacies and Anopheles fluviatilis and their distribution patterns. The study area included six forested districts (Keonjhar, Angul, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Nayagarh and Khurda) and two non-forested coastal districts (Puri and Jagatsingpur) studied over a period of two years (June 2007-May 2009). An. culicifacies A, B, C and D and An. fluviatilis S and T sibling species were reported. The prevalence of An. culicifacies A ranged from 4.2-8.41 percent, B from 54.96-76.92 percent, C from 23.08-33.62 percent and D from 1.85-5.94 percent (D was reported for the first time in Orissa, except for occurrences in the Khurda and Nayagarh districts). The anthropophilic indices (AI) were 3.2-4.8 percent, 0.5-1.7 percent, 0.7-1.37 percent and 0.91-1.35 percent for A, B, C and D, respectively, whereas the sporozoite rates (SR) were 0.49-0.54 percent, 0 percent, 0.28-0.37 percent and 0.41-0.46 percent for A, B, C and D, respectively. An. fluviatilis showed a similarly varied distribution pattern in which S was predominant (84.3 percent overall); its AI and SR values ranged from 60.7-90.4 percent and 1.2-2.32 percent, respectively. The study observed that the co-existence of potential vector sibling species of An. culicifacies (A, C and D) and An. fluviatilis S (> 50 percent) was responsible for the high endemicity of malaria in forested districts such as Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Angul, Ganjam, Nayagarh and Khurda (> 5 percent slide positivity rate). Thus, the epidemiological scenario for malaria is dependent on the distribution of the vector sibling species and their vectorial capacity.