title: Blood-meal identification in phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) from Valle Hermoso, a high prevalence zone for cutaneous leishmaniasis in Ecuador.
abstract: Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease transmitted by phlebotomine sand flies of the genus Lutzomyia. In South America, cutaneous leishmaniasis is endemic in the majority of countries. There are no previous reports of phlebotomine sand fly host feeding sources in Ecuador. We identified blood meal sources for phlebotomine sand fly species in Valle Hermoso, a hyper endemic area for leishmaniasis in Ecuador. Phlebotomine sand fly collections were carried out during the dry and rainy seasons. PCR and multiplex PCR were performed from DNA extracted from the abdomens of blood-fed females to specifically identify the avian and mammalian blood meal sources. Avian-blood (77%), mammalian-blood (16%) and mixed avian-mammalian blood (7%) were found in the samples. At the species level, blood from chickens (35.5%), humans (2.8%), cows (2.8%) and dogs (1.9%) was specifically detected. Nyssomyia trapidoi was the most common species of Lutzomyia found that fed on birds. The present results may aid the development of effective strategies to control leishmaniasis in Ecuador.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Traslacional (CIT), Escuela de Medicina, Universidad de las Américas, Quito, Ecuador; Instituto Nacional de Investigación en Salud Pública (INSPI), Centro de Investigación y Referencia de Vectores (CIREV), Quito, Ecuador. Electronic address: danaguano@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: David F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Anaguano
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Traslacional (CIT), Escuela de Medicina, Universidad de las Américas, Quito, Ecuador. Electronic address: patricio.ponce@udla.edu.ec.
authors.forename: Patricio
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ponce
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Traslacional (CIT), Escuela de Medicina, Universidad de las Américas, Quito, Ecuador. Electronic address: manuel.baldeon@udla.edu.ec.
authors.forename: Manuel E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Baldeón
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Traslacional (CIT), Escuela de Medicina, Universidad de las Américas, Quito, Ecuador. Electronic address: stephanie.santander@udla.edu.ec.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Santander
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Investigación en Salud Pública (INSPI), Centro de Investigación y Referencia de Vectores (CIREV), Quito, Ecuador. Electronic address: vcevallos@inspi.gob.ec.
authors.forename: Varsovia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cevallos
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004484:Ecuador / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016773:Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission*; D015995:Prevalence; D011576:Psychodidae / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Blood meal; Ecuador; Leishmania; Phlebotomine sand flies