HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hoogstraal, H. Articles by Dietlein, D. R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hoogstraal, H. Articles by Dietlein, D. R.

Leishmaniasis in the Sudan Republic

9. Ecological Relationships of Sandfly Species and Leishmania Infection^*

In Paloich District of Upper Nile Province, Sudan, an area with a long history of heavy kalaazar endemicity, no Leishmania infection was found in Phlebotomus papatasi and laboratory experiments suggest that this sandfly species is an inefficient vector of strains of L. donovani from man in this Province.

Pure pools of P. orientalis (average 6 or 7 flies per pool) from small villages showed a remarkably high infection rate—30 positives in 180 pools examined (16.7%). In forested areas within a mile of these villages, 35 of 347 (10.1%) P. orientalis pools were infected. (Individual dissection of 1,150 P. orientalis by Donald Heyneman⁶ revealed a comparable rate of infection and heavy, anterior concentrations of leptomonads, indicating the efficiency of this sandfly as a vector.) Of the hamsters into which infected sandfly pools were inoculated, 54% developed a visceral leishmaniasis clinically and pathologically identical to that produced by Leishmania donovani in these animals. Since all sandflies were collected while biting humans in an area of heavy kalaazar endemicity, this organism is probably L. donovani. Four Nile Grass Rats, Arvicanthis niloticus luctuosus Dollman, were also found naturally infected with visceral leishmaniasis in forest sites in which numerous infected P. orientalis were taken.

No man-biting sandflies were found in grasslands, or in forests within a mile of the Nile. P. orientalis was widely distributed inland in Acacia and Acacia-Balanites forests, as well as in small and larger villages in forest clearings and close to forests. In villages away from forests, P. orientalis was less common or absent. Leishmania infections were found in P. orientalis wherever this sandfly occurred.

P. papatasi was present in established villages and was sometimes a serious pest. Except in a single locality about 200 yards from a village where small numbers of P. papatasi were taken, this species was extremely rare or absent in forested areas.

^* Research Project MR005.09-1603.1, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Navy Department, Washington 25, D.C.

The opinions and assertions contained herein are the private ones of the authors and are not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of the Navy Department or the naval service at large.