Natural Leishmania infection of Lutzomyia spp. in Peru

Abstract

Natural infection of Lutzomyia spp. with Leishmania was studied with the aid of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in Chaute, Lima, Perú, a locality endemic for Andean cutaneous leishmaniasis (uta). The PCR, with primers specific for the L. braziliensis complex, was applied to sandfly pools. Sandflies were sampled from April 1990 to May 1991 with CDC light traps in homes, and from near homes with a Shannon trap using protected human bait. Lu. verrucarum (4 pools) and Lu. peruenis (2 pools) from the anthropophilic collections, and Lu. verrucarum (2 pools) from indoors were found to be infected with Leishmania. The majority of infected sandflies were recorded mainly in April 1991 (4 pools), coinciding with the highest sandfly densities and the maximum number of new cases of uta (7). Non-infected sandflies were found from May to October 1990 and January to March 1991. Thus, these 2 sandfly species play a role in the spread of leishmaniasis among humans and other animals in Chaute.

Assessment of PCR in the detection of Leishmania spp in experimentally infected individual phlebotomine sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae)

“…The main advantages of these methods are their sensitivity and specificity, independently of the number, stage and localization of the Leishmania in the digestive tract of the vector 10 . In the last few years, it has been successfully applied to field studies on the vectorial competence of phlebotomine sandflies 1,12 , even in areas with low rates of infection 9,14 .…”

Investigation of natural infection by Leishmania in sandflies of Paraná State, Southern Brazil

“…braziliensis (Lonardoni et al, 1993;Silveira et al, 1999). The PCR has been widely used in the study of the natural and experimental sandfly infection, using various primers (Pérez et al, 1994;Rodriguez et al, 1999;Aransay et al, 2000;Michalsky et al, 2002;Miranda et al, 2002;PitaPereira et al, 2005;Kato et al, 2005;Jorquera et al, 2005). According to Arevalo et al, (1993), the primers MP1L and MP3H, which amplify a fragment of 70 bp of kDNA from parasites of the Leishmania (Viannia) subgenus, as well as being very sensitive, have been successfully tested for the diagnosis and detection of sandflies naturally infected with promastigotes.…”

“…mexicana out of the 143 dissected and detected 6 infected females among 183 by the PCR. In Peru, Pérez et al, (1994) grouped 5,861 recently fed females into 713 pools, of which 8 (0.14%) were infected by Leishmania spp. The infected species were Pintomyia verrucarum (6 pools) and Lutzomyia peruensis (2 pools).…”

Natural infection of phlebotomines (Diptera: Psychodidae) in a visceral-leishmaniasis focus in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

“…Estimates of the infection rate in phlebotomines based on dissection of the insects are frequently carried out. Infection rates obtained by this method range from 0 to 9% 1,9,11,19 but are usually in the region of 0.2% 9,10,14,17,18 .…”