title: Control of sand flies with attractive toxic sugar baits (ATSB) and potential impact on non-target organisms in Morocco.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The persistence and geographical expansion of leishmaniasis is a major public health problem that requires the development of effective integrated vector management strategies for sand fly control. Moreover, these strategies must be economically and environmentally sustainable approaches that can be modified based on the current knowledge of sand fly vector behavior. The efficacy of using attractive toxic sugar baits (ATSB) for sand fly control and the potential impacts of ATSB on non-target organisms in Morocco was investigated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sand fly field experiments were conducted in an agricultural area along the flood plain of the Ourika River. Six study sites (600 m x 600 m); three with "sugar rich" (with cactus hedges bearing countless ripe fruits) environments and three with "sugar poor" (green vegetation only suitable for plant tissue feeding) environments were selected to evaluate ATSB, containing the toxin, dinotefuran. ATSB applications were made either with bait stations or sprayed on non-flowering vegetation. Control sites were established in both sugar rich and sugar poor environments. Field studies evaluating feeding on vegetation treated with attractive (non-toxic) sugar baits (ASB) by non-target arthropods were conducted at both sites with red stained ASB applied to non-flowering vegetation, flowering vegetation, or on bait stations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At both the sites, a single application of ATSB either applied to vegetation or bait stations significantly reduced densities of both female and male sand flies (Phlebotomus papatasi and P. sergenti) for the five-week trial period. Sand fly populations were reduced by 82.8% and 76.9% at sugar poor sites having ATSB applied to vegetation or presented as a bait station, respectively and by 78.7% and 83.2%, respectively at sugar rich sites. The potential impact of ATSB on non-targets, if applied on green non-flowering vegetation and bait stations, was low for all non-target groups as only 1% and 0.7% were stained with non-toxic bait respectively when monitored after 24 hours.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this field study demonstrate ATSB effectively controls both female and male sand flies regardless of competing sugar sources. Furthermore, ATSB applied to foliar vegetation and on bait stations has low non-target impact.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, 33136, USA. w.qualls@med.miami.edu.
authors.forename: Whitney A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Qualls
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Kuvin Centre for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 91120, Israel. guntercmuller@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Gunter C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, B.P. 6202, Rabat-Instituts, Morocco. k.khallaayoune@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Khalid
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Khallaayoune
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine Technion, 34995, Haifa, Israel. erevay@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Edita E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Revay
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Vector Ecology, Pasteur Institute of Tunis, 13 Place Pasteur BP 74, 1002, Tunis, Tunisia. elyes.zhioua@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Elyes
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zhioua
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978, Israel. vasiliy1953@yandex.com.
authors.forename: Vasiliy D
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Kravchenko
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, 33136, USA. KArheart@biostat.med.miami.edu.
authors.forename: Kristopher L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Arheart
authors.affiliation: Anastasia Mosquito Control District, 500 Old Beach Road, St. Augustine, FL, 32080, U.S.A. xueamcd@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Rui-De
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Kuvin Centre for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 91120, Israel. yosefs@ekmd.huji.ac.il.
authors.forename: Yosef
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Schlein
authors.affiliation: SNSB-Zoologische Staatssammlung Munchen, Munchhausenstrasse 21, Muunchen, Germany. axel.hausmann@zsm.mwn.de.
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hausmann
authors.affiliation: United States Department of Agriculture-ARS-Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology, Gainesville, FL, USA. Dan.Kline@ARS.USDA.GOV.
authors.forename: Daniel L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Kline
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, 33136, USA. jbeier@med.miami.edu.
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Beier
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D007300:Insect Control / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D007306:Insecticides / Q000633:toxicity*; D008297:Male; D009018:Morocco; D011576:Psychodidae / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D002241:Carbohydrates; D007306:Insecticides