Characteristics of phlebotomine sandflies in selected areas of sri lanka.

CHARACTERISTICS OF PHLEBOTOMINE SANDFLIES IN SELECTED AREAS OF SRI LANKA. Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health. 2015 Nov;46(6):994-1004 Authors: Senanayake SA, Abeyewicreme W, Dotson EM, N D Karunaweerai Abstract Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is an endemic disease in Sri Lanka. Studies on vector aspects, although important for better understanding of disease transmission dynamics, are still limited. The present study describes the species distribution and behavioral patterns of sandflies within selected disease-prevalent zones in the country. Adult sandflies were collected from several field sites over a two-year duration in Sri Lanka using cattle-baited net traps, CDC light traps and manual methods. Species identification was performed using standard keys. Leishmania donovani and source of blood meal in blood-fed female sandflies DNA were identified using PCR-based methods. Aggregation period of adult sandflies during overnight collections was also noted. The collected sandflies were identified as Phlebotomus argentipes glaucus (previously known as morphospecies A) and a non-vector species, Sergentomyia zeylanica. Presence of L. donovani DNA was found in 2/634 female sandflies. The parasite ITS1 region of SSU rDNA had 99% sequence similarity with L. donovani from Bangladesh and India. The peak aggregation period of sandflies within cattle-traps was between 8:00 PM to 11:00 PM, indicating that vector control strategies could be co...
Source: Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health - Category: Tropical Medicine Tags: Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health Source Type: research