After outbreaks of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Solano State, Venezuela, 5% of the population had parasitized ulcers while after similar outbreaks in Mesquita, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, 9% had the disease. In these foci children, including some under six years of age, were affected. There was no significant difference in the occurrence of the disease according to sex or type of employment. In Solano, 3% of dogs and 28% of donkeys had parasitized lesions, while in Mesquita these indices were 19.8% and 30.8% respectively. The parasite from man, dogs and equines was identified as Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis, by zymodeme and serodeme characterization. In these foci there is evidence suggesting that leishmaniasis is a zoonosis, possibly with equines and dogs as reservoirs, although both a wild enzootic cycle and the role of man as a source of infection can not be ruled out. Transmission is assumed to occur peridomestically by sandfly vectors such as Lutzomyia panamensis in Venezuela and Lutzomyia intermedia in Brazil. Information about the origin of these foci suggests that infected equines may be an important factor in the dissemination of the parasite in a peridomestic situation where these sandflies are abundant.

During an outbreak of cutaneous leishmaniasis in a locality (Las Rosas, Cojedes State, Venezuela) previously non-endemic, 12.9% of humans, 7% of dogs and 21.4% of donkeys (Equus asinus) had lesions with parasites. The agent in the three hosts was identified as Leishmania braziliensis, subspecies braziliensis at least in man and donkey. The probable vector was Lutzomyia panamensis. No infection was found in a small sample of wild mammals examined. The outbreak was apparently linked with the importation of donkeys with ulcers, from endemic areas. The authors call attention to the fact that not only in the foci of "uta", but also in areas of the other forms of American cutaneous leishmaniasis, dogs are frequently found infected. They emphasize the necessity of searching for the infection in donkeys and of performing hemocultures and xenodiagnosis with sandflies in human, canine and equine cases, to verify their possible role as sources of infection, and not merely as dead ends in the epidemiological chain of the disease.

ing to the country the appearence and spreading of the disease in suburban areas of big cities one of 16 16 Urban Visceral Leishmaniasis in Venezuela CM Aguiar et al. Study area Carabobo State Valencia city Location of "Barrio Los Magallanes" in a suburban area of the city of Valencia, Venezuela. tives (21/77). We searched for parasites in 13 dogs with positive serology, after auptopsy, finding amastigotes in Giemsa stained samples of ear pinna, bone marrow and/or liver in eigth dogs. An indoor and outdoor capture strategy using a Shannon trap, during one year of capture (August 1992-July 1993) was captured a total of 1757 species: 1280 (72.9%) Lu. evansi, 23 (1.3%) Lu. longipalpis and 454 (25.8%) the other species. So

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The female of a new species, Lutzomyia lewisi is described. Reasons are stated on which the classification proposed by Lewis et al. (1977) is adopted for sandflies recorded in Venezuela. The current controversy over the generic names of phlebotomine sandflies are also discussed.
A fêmea da uma nova espécie, Lutzomyia lewisi é descrita. A argumentação pela qual se adota a classificação de Lewis et al. (1977) para os flebótomos da venezuela é apresentada, assim como se discute a controvérsia atual sobre a nomenclatura genérica dos flebótomos