Observations on the feeding habits of Lutzomyia longipalpis (Lutz & Neiva, 1912) (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae) in Campo Grande, an endemic area of visceral leishmaniasis in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.
Sand flies were captured weekly with CDC light traps from December 2003 to November 2005 in three areas of Campo Grande, in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul. These areas incorporated two patches of remnant forest and five houses. The blood meals of engorged female sand flies were identified using the avidin-biotin system of immunoenzymatic ELISA capture. Most (327/355) of the females analysed were Lutzomyia longipalpis, of which 66.4% reacted with human blood, 64.8% with that of birds and 8.9% with that of dogs. Females that had taken human blood predominated in the residential areas and two forest patches. The following combinations of blood were also detected for L. longipalpis in some of the samples analysed: bird+human (43.4%), bird+human+dog (6.1%). The combination bird+human+dog+pig was also found for Nyssomyia whitmani. Dogs and pigs appear to have little attractiveness for L. longipalpis. The results obtained demonstrate the eclecticism and high anthropophily of L. longipalpis and raise new questions with regard to the importance of dogs in VL epidemiology and the possible role of man as a source of infection for sand flies.
de Oliveira
Alessandra Gutierrez
AG
Departamento de Patologia, Laboratório de Parasitologia, UFMS, Caixa Postal 549, CEP 79070-900, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil. agoliveira@nin.ufms.br
Marassá
Ana Maria
AM
Consales
Cleide Aschenbrenner
CA
Dorval
Maria Elizabeth Cavalheiros
ME
Fernandes
Carlos Eurico
CE
de Oliveira
Gilliard Rezende
GR
Brazil
Reginaldo Peçanha
RP
Galati
Eunice Aparecida Bianchi
EA
D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D004175:Diptera; D004285:Dogs; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000453:epidemiology; D011576:Psychodidae / Q000502:physiology*; D013552:Swine