Author/Authors :
Soltani، Zahra نويسنده Brain and Spinal Injury Research Center (BASIR), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran , , Fakoorziba، Mohammad Reza نويسنده Department of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, Research Center for Health Sciences, Faculty of Health and Nutrition, Shiraz University of Med Fakoorziba, Mohammad Reza , Moemenbellah-Fard، Mohammad Djafar نويسنده Department of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran; , , Kalantari، Mohsen نويسنده Department of Medical Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran Kalantari, Mohsen , Aliakbarpour، Mohsen نويسنده CDC, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran , , Faramarzi، Hossein نويسنده Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran , , Azizi، Kourosh نويسنده 1. Department of Medical Entomology, Research Center for Health Sciences, Faculty of Health & Nutrition, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz Azizi, Kourosh
Abstract :
Background: Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) is endemic in
many parts of Iran. This study was conducted to investigate
the fauna and some biologic factors of sand flies and detect CL
vector(s) in Kharameh district which is one of the most important
foci of the disease in Fars province, southern Iran.
Methods: To identify the fauna, a total of 1549 sand flies were
collected from April 2014 to March 2015. To determine the
monthly activity, sand flies were collected from indoor and
outdoor areas of the lowland and the highland regions.
Results: Ten species of phlebotomine (four Phlebotomus spp. and
six Sergentomyia spp.) were identified and Phlebotomus papatasi
was the dominant species (53.45%). To determine the sand flies
naturally infected by Leishmania spp., 188 female sand flies (145
P. papatasi, 29 P. sergenti, and 14 P. alexandri) were subjected to
polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. Two (13.16%) specimens
of P. papatasi were found to be positive for Leishmania major.
Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first PCR
detection of L. major within naturally infected P. Papatasis and
fly as the main vector in this region of south Iran.