Molecular mass screening to incriminate sand fly vectors of Andean-type cutaneous leishmaniasis in Ecuador and Peru

KATO, HIROTOMO; CÁCERES, ABRAHAM; GOMEZ, EDUARDO; MIMORI, TATSUYUKI; UEZATO, HIROSHI; MARCO, JORGE DIEGO; BARROSO, PAOLA ANDREA; IWATA, HIROYUKI; HASHIGUCHI, YOSHIHISA

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AND HYGIENE

AMER SOC TROP MED & HYGIENE

Lugar: Stanford; Año: 2008 vol. 79 p. 719 - 721

0002-9637

Sand flies from the Andean areas of Ecuador and Peru were examined for Leishmania infections by using our recently established molecular mass screening method. Leishmanial minicircle DNA-positive sand flies were detected in 3 of 192 and 1 of 462 samples from Ecuador and Peru, respectively. Sand fly species were identified by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) of the 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene, and the positive flies were Lutzomyia (Lu.)ayacuchensis and Lu. peruensis, respectively. Furthermore, cytochrome b and mannose-phosphate isomerase gene sequence analyses identified the parasites from Ecuador and Peru as Leishmania (Leishmania) mexicana and L. (Viannia) peruviana, respectively. Thus, the mass screening method was confirmed to be a powerful tool for sand fly research.