Study on phlebotomine sand fly (Diptera: Psychodidae) fauna in Belo Horizonte, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil

A study on the phlebotomine sand fly fauna in Belo Horizonte city, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, was carried out. From April 2001 to March 2003, monthly systematic collections were performed in three houses from each of the nine regions of the city, using CDC light traps for four consecutive days. The traps were set into the houses and in peridomestic areas totaling 54 traps. A number of 3871 sand fly specimens of the genera Lutzomyia and Brumptomyia were collected. Sixty eight percent of the specimens were L. longipalpis and 16% L. whitmani, insect vectors of visceral and American cutaneous leishmaniasis, respectively. Environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, and frequency of precipitation suggest that the number of insects increases after rainy periods. During the same period mentioned above, seasonal captures were carried out in parks and green areas of Belo Horizonte, using Shannon trap. A total of 579 phlebotomine sand flies were collected from which 398 (68.7%) were females with the predominance of L. whitmani and L. monticola. Those specimens were used for natural infection examination, by polymerase chain reaction. No Leishmania DNA was present in any of the specimens tested.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Souza,Carina Margonari de, Pessanha,Jose Eduardo, Barata,Ricardo Andrade, Monteiro,Érika Michalsky, Costa,Daniela Carmargos, Dias,Edelberto Santos
Format: Digital revista
Language:English
Published: Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde 2004
Online Access:http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0074-02762004000800003
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!