Stages in the identification of phlebotomine sandflies as vectors of leishmaniases and other tropical diseases.

ABSTRACT

The first time the term phlebotomine sandfly was used, was by an Italian naturalist, Philippo Bonanni, in 1691. The first description though was made by another Italian naturalist, Scopoli, under the name Bibio papatasi. The name of the genus, Phlebotomus, was not given until 1840 by Rondani and Berté. The first description of an American phlebotomine sandfly was made by Coquillett, in 1907. The discovery of the three first sandflies in Brazil is the work of Lutz and Neiva, in 1912. From this date till 1921, 11 new species were described in this country and since then their number is still increasing and has reached 229 at this time. The history of the identification of phlebotomine sandflies as vectors, in Brazil like elsewhere in South America, is as complex as the one of the leishmaniases themselves, to which it is closely linked. The knowledge of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Brazil goes back to 1909, when Gaspar Vianna proposed to name the parasites that were found Leishmania braziliensis (1911). Following the observation of the Sergent brothers on the role of Phlebotomus papatasi in the transmission of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Algeria (1921), it became obvious that phlebotomine sandflies should be incriminated as vectors of cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Americas and that proof should be sought of their role. This is what various Brazilian scientists have done, like Aragão in 1922, Pessôa and Pestana in 1940. In the 1950s evidence was produced that the different forms of leishmaniasis that infest the American continent were caused by distinct species of the parasite. Subsequently, successful searches for the specific vectors were carried out. A by-product of the epidemiological studies of leishmaniases has been the discovery of the transmission of other parasites of the Trypanosomatid families (Crithidia, Endotrypanum, Trypanosoma). More recently, since the 1960s, a large number of viruses amongst which Rhabdoviridae, Bunyaviridae and Reoviridae, have been isolated from phlebotomine sandflies. Between 1961 and 1995, 69 serotypes of different arboviruses were obtained from different zones of Brazilian Amazonia.