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Bionomics of phlebotomine sand flies species (Diptera: Psychodidae) and their natural infection with Leishmania and Crithidia in Fars province, southern Iran

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Abstract

Phlebotominae sand flies are involved in human diseases, such as leishmaniasis, and cause a considerable number of deaths every year. Besides, some of them have been identified as allergen sources or the potential mechanical vectors related to nosocomial infections. The present study aimed to assess the monthly activity, fauna, and detection of protozoan agents in phlebotomine sand flies using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in re-emerging zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis foci of Shiraz and Kharameh in Fars province, southern Iran during 2016–2017. To determine the monthly activity, sand flies were caught from indoors and outdoors of both studied areas. Afterward, all female phlebotomine sand flies were processed for DNA extraction and PCR assays for Leishmania and Crithidia detections. During the study, 6975 sand flies of 16 species (eight Phlebotomus and eight Sergentomyia species) were caught in both foci. Sand flies’ monthly activities started in early April and terminated in late November and October. Additionally, two active peaks of sand flies were observed in both foci; first in June and second in August to September. Phlebotomus papatasi (47.1%) was the most dominant species in out/indoors of both Shiraz (31.1%) and Kharameh (16.0%). It was also the only species which was found infected with Leishmania major, indeed, 2.68% and 2.53% of P. papatasi were infected to L. major in Kharameh and Shiraz, respectively. However, none of the female sand flies was positive for Crithidia spp. Despite various control strategies, especially against Leishmania, considerable cases of leishmaniasis are recorded from Iran every year. Phlebotomine plays the main role in transmission of Leishmania in these foci. Therefore, further studies are needed to determine the role of different phlebotomine species in epidemiological aspects of leishmaniasis.

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Acknowledgements

This investigation was extracted from an approved Ph.D. dissertation (No. 94-01-104-10873) written by Mohsen Kalantari and financially supported by the Research Vice-chancellor of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Hereby, the authors would like to thank Ms. A. Keivanshekouh at the Research Improvement Center of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences for improving the use of English in the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center for Health Sciences, Institute of Health, Department of Public Health, Mamasani Higher Education Complex for Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Mohsen Kalantari

  2. Basic Sciences in Infectious Diseases Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Mohammad Hossein Motazedian

  3. Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Qasem Asgari

  4. Center for Disease Control, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Zahra Soltani

  5. Research Center for Health Sciences, Institute of Health, Department of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Aboozar Soltani & Kourosh Azizi

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  1. Mohsen Kalantari
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  2. Mohammad Hossein Motazedian
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  3. Qasem Asgari
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  4. Zahra Soltani
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  5. Aboozar Soltani
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  6. Kourosh Azizi
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the initial design, data collection, analyses, and manuscript writing. MK and KA wrote the proposal and designed the methods. MK and ZS collected the samples, identified the sand flies, and detected the parasites. KA, MHM, QA, and AS were involved in designing data screening and analysis. MK wrote the initial manuscript draft. All authors reviewed, revised, and confirmed the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kourosh Azizi.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.

Ethical approval

In this study, ethical permission (No. IR.SUMS.REC.1395.S475) was granted through the Science and Ethics Committee of Shiraz University of Medical Silences. All performed procedures were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Iranian institutional and/or national research committee and with the standards of 1964 Helsinki declaration.

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Kalantari, M., Motazedian, M.H., Asgari, Q. et al. Bionomics of phlebotomine sand flies species (Diptera: Psychodidae) and their natural infection with Leishmania and Crithidia in Fars province, southern Iran. J Parasit Dis 42, 511–518 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12639-018-1027-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12639-018-1027-6

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