title: Host-feeding preference of Phlebotomus orientalis (Diptera: Psychodidae) in an endemic focus of visceral leishmaniasis in northern Ethiopia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Blood-feeding behavior studies are important for estimating the efficiency of pathogen transmission and assessing the relative human disease risk. However, in Ethiopia and other parts of East Africa there are large remaining gaps in identifying the feeding habits of Phlebotomus orientalis, the vector of Leishmania donovani. The aim of the study was to determine the blood feeding patterns of P. orientalis in Tahtay Adiyabo district, northern Ethiopia.
  
  
  METHODS
  For bloodmeal analysis, sandflies were collected from three different villages of Tahtay Adiyabo district using CDC light traps, sticky traps, and pyrethrum spray catches. Bloodmeal of engorged female sandflies was identified using cytochrome (cyt) b-PCR and reverse-line blotting (RLB) and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) assays.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most (637/641) of the females analyzed were P. orientalis. Successful identification of the host from bloodmeals was achieved in 83.03 and 92.1% using cyt b PCR-RLB and ELISA, respectively. Bloodmeal analysis of P. orientalis females revealed that they have a range of hosts with predominant preference to bovines followed by donkey, human, goat, sheep, dog, and camel.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results obtained from bloodmeal analyses demonstrate that the feeding preference of P. orientalis is mainly zoophilic, which could vary depending on the availability of hosts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoological Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. shambe2006@yahoo.com.|Department of Biology, College of Natural Science, Jigjiga University, Jigjiga, Ethiopia. shambe2006@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Araya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gebresilassie
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, The Institute of Medical Research Israel-Canada The Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel. Ibrahima@ekmd.huji.ac.il.
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Abbasi
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoological Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. reyeesayas@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Essayas
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aklilu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, College of Natural Science, Jigjiga University, Jigjiga, Ethiopia. solyar2005@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Solomon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yared
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, The Institute of Medical Research Israel-Canada The Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel. oscark@ekmd.huji.ac.il.
authors.forename: Oscar David
authors.initials: OD
authors.lastname: Kirstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, The Institute of Medical Research Israel-Canada The Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel. adi.moncaz@mail.huji.ac.il.
authors.forename: Aviad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moncaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoological Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. habte_tm@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Habte
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tekie
authors.affiliation: Aklilu Lemma Institute of Pathobiology, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. meshesha_b@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Meshesha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Balkew
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, The Institute of Medical Research Israel-Canada The Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel. alonw@ekmd.huji.ac.il.
authors.forename: Alon
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Warburg
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. hailu_a2004@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Asrat
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hailu
authors.affiliation: Aklilu Lemma Institute of Pathobiology, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. teshomegm@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Teshome
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gebre-Michael
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001769:Blood; D011723:Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005002:Ethiopia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D058507:Host Specificity; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission; D010691:Phlebotomus / Q000502:physiology*