Journal
MICROBES AND INFECTION
Volume 5, Issue 6, Pages 471-474Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/S1286-4579(03)00066-2
Keywords
cutaneous leishmaniasis; transmission; vector competence; BALB/c mouse; Mesocricetus
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Phlebotomus sergenti is a natural vector of Leishmania tropica. However, the ability of P sergenti to transmit L. tropica by bite has not been proven experimentally yet. We have transmitted L. tropica to golden hamsters and BALB/c mice by the bite of P sergenti. Sand flies and Leishmania both originated from an anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis focus in Urfa, Turkey. P sergenti females from a laboratory colony were infected by feeding on lesions of needle-inoculated hamsters or mice. Gravid females were allowed to refeed on uninfected hosts 9-15 d after the infective feeding. At the second feeding, some infected females took a full blood meal, while others only a partial one; some females failed to feed at all. The ability of infected females to take a blood meal did not correlate with the parasite transmissibility. In four BALB/c mice, lesions developed after 1-6 months. In two albino hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus), lesions developed 1 month after the infective feeding, and Leishmania could be reisolated from these sites. Another hamster did not develop a lesion; however, the feeding site and the adjacent ear were PCR positive 1 year after infective feeding. Our results show that dissemination to other parts of host body occurs in L. tropica after sand fly bite. Experimental transmission of the parasite confirms that P. sergenti is a natural vector of L. tropica. (C) 2003 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available