title: Distribution of phlebotomine fauna (Diptera: Psychodidae) across an urban-rural gradient in an area of endemic visceral leishmaniasis in northern Brazil.
abstract: The number of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) cases has increased over the past 10 years in Brazil, especially in the North and Northeast regions of the country. The aim of this study was to evaluate the urbanisation of VL vectors in Barcarena, Pará, an area in northern Brazil where VL is endemic. Sandflies were captured using Centers for Disease Control (CDC) light traps along an urban-rural gradient. The CDC traps were installed inside hen houses at a height of 150 cm. A total of 5,089 sandflies were collected and 11 species were identified. The predominant species was Lutzomyia longipalpis (rate of 95.15%), which suggests its participation in the transmission of VL. A total of 1,451 Lu. longipalpis females were dissected and no Leishmania infections were detected. Most of the sandflies were captured at the border of a forest (88.25%) and no flies were captured in the urban area, which suggests that transmission is still restricted to rural sites. However, the fact that a specimen was collected in an intermediate area indicates that urbanisation is a real possibility and that vector monitoring is important.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Av. Augusto Correa 1, 66075-900 Belém, PA, Brasil.
authors.forename: Davi Marcos Souza de
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Elvira Maria
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Saraiva
authors.forename: Edna Aoba Yassui
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.forename: Adelson Alcimar Almeida de
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Sousa
authors.forename: Edilene Oliveira da
authors.initials: EO
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Ivoneide Maria da
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Silva
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D005260:Female; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000145:classification*; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000635:transmission; D008297:Male; D011156:Population Density; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011576:Psychodidae / Q000145:classification*; D012424:Rural Population; D012621:Seasons; D014505:Urban Population