Entomological surveillance and spatiotemporal risk assessment of sand fly-borne diseases in Cyprus.

Visceral and cutaneous leishmaniases are important public health concerns in Cyprus. Although the diseases, historically prevalent on the island, were nearly eradicated by 1996, an increase in frequency and geographical spread has recently been recorded. Upward trends in leishmaniasis prevalence have largely been attributed to environmental changes that amplify the abundance and activity of its vector, the phlebotomine sand flies. Here, we performed an extensive field study across the island to map the sand fly fauna and compared the presence and distribution of the species found with historical records. We mapped the habitat preferences of Phlebotomus papatasi and P. tobbi, two medically important species, and predicted the seasonal abundance of P. papatasi at unprecedented spatiotemporal resolution using a climate-sensitive population dynamics model driven by high-resolution meteorological forecasting. Our compendium holds a record of 18 species and the locations of a subset, including those of potential public and veterinary health concern. We confirmed that P. papatasi is widespread, especially in densely urbanized areas, and predicted that its abundance uniformly peaks across the island at the end of summer. We identified potential hotspots of P. papatasi activity even after this peak. Our results form a foundation to inform public health planning and contribute to the development of effective, efficient, and environmentally sensitive strategies to control sand fly populations and prevent sand fly-borne diseases.

Sand fly fauna of Crete and the description of Phlebotomus (Adlerius) creticus n. sp. (Diptera: Psychodidae).

BACKGROUND: The Greek island of Crete is endemic for both visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and recently increasing cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). This study summarizes published data on the sand fly fauna of Crete, the results of new sand fly samplings and the description of a new sand fly species. METHODS: All published and recent samplings were carried out using CDC light traps, sticky traps or mouth aspirators. The specific status of Phlebotomus (Adlerius) creticus n. sp., was assessed by morphological analysis, cytochrome b (cytb) sequencing and MALDI-TOF protein profiling. RESULTS: Published data revealed the presence of 10 Phlebotomus spp. and 2 Sergentomyia spp. During presented field work, 608 specimens of 8 species of Phlebotomus and one species of Sergentomyia were collected. Both published data and present samplings revealed that the two most common and abundant species were Phlebotomus neglectus, a proven vector of Leishmania infantum causing VL, and Ph. similis, a suspected vector of L. tropica causing CL. In addition, the field surveys revealed the presence of a new species, Ph. (Adlerius) creticus n. sp. CONCLUSIONS: The identification of the newly described species is based on both molecular and morphological criteria, showing distinct characters of the male genitalia that differentiate it from related species of the subgenus Adlerius as well as species-specific sequence of cytb and protein spectra generated by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry.

Leishmania infection in lagomorphs and minks in Greece.

Greece is an endemic country for human and canine leishmaniosis. Studies about the role of lagomorphs and minks in the epidemiology of the diseases are, so far, limited. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of Leishmania infection in these animals, in different areas of the country. Samples from 393 domestic and wild rabbits, 90 hares and 200 minks were collected and examined by cytology (spleen imprints) and serology (ELISA), while spleen samples of 116, 56 and 95 of the rabbits, hares and minks, respectively, were examined by a PCR assay targeting the ITS1 region. For every animal examined a form was created, recording information like date, area, animal species, sex, etc. All imprint smears examined were negative, while serology revealed infection in 7.6% (C.I. 5.0-10.3%) rabbits, 6.7% (C.I. 1.5-11.8%) hares and 20% (C.I. 14.5-25.5%) minks. Infection was confirmed by molecular methods in 2.6% (C.I. 0.0-5.5%), 3.6% (C.I. 0.0-8.4%) and 2.1% (C.I. 0.0-5.0%) of the animals, respectively. The statistical analysis showed that minks are most likely to be seropositive and that in rabbits, the breeding method (i.e. homestead reared animals) was associated with infection. Because of the proximity of lagomorphs and minks to humans and dogs it is necessary to further elucidate their role in the epidemiology of leishmaniosis.

Phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) in the Greek Aegean Islands: ecological approaches.

BACKGROUND: Blood-sucking phlebotomine sand flies are the vectors of the protozoan parasites Leishmania spp. Different Phlebotomus species transmit different Leishmania species causing leishmaniases which are neglected diseases emerging/reemerging in new regions. Thirteen sand fly species, ten belonging to the medically important genus Phlebotomus and three belonging to Sergentomyia are known in Greece. An increasing number of human and dog cases are reported each year from all parts of the country including the Aegean Islands. However, no previous study has been conducted on the sand fly fauna on the islands, except for Rhodes and Samos. The aim of this study was to investigate sand fly species in eleven small Aegean islands; to understand species-specific relationships with environmental and climatic factors and to compare sand fly community parameters among islands. A risk analysis was carried out for each species using climatic and environmental variables. RESULTS: Nine sand fly species: Phlebotomus neglectus, P. tobbi, P. similis, P. simici, P. perfiliewi, P. alexandri, P. papatasi, Sergentomyia minuta and S. dentata, were collected from the islands studied. Phlebotomus (Adlerius) sp. and Sergentomyia sp. specimens were also collected but not identified to the species level. There was a positive effect of distance from the sea on the abundance of P. neglectus, S. minuta and S. dentata, and a negative effect on the abundance of P. tobbi, P. simici and P. similis. In general, temperature preferences of sand fly populations were between 21 and 29 °C. Nevertheless, there were significant differences in terms of temperature and relative humidity preference ranges among species. The most important species found, P. neglectus, was indisputably the most adapted species in the study area with a very high reaction norm, favoring even the lower temperature and humidity ranges. Overall, the sand fly fauna in the islands was very rich but there were differences in species diversity, as indicated by the values of the Shannon-Wiener index, along with evenness and richness of the sand fly fauna between the islands and altitude ranges in the islands. CONCLUSIONS: The study indicated that the Greek Aegean Islands, however small, maintain a rich sand fly fauna. This includes important vectors of Leishmania spp. representing a risk for parasite transmission to humans and dogs along with the danger of maintaining new Leishmania spp. if introduced to the area.