[Additional evidence for the species composition of mosquitoes (Diptera, Psichodidae, Phlebotominae) in the visceral leishmaniasis foci of Uzbekistan].

The species composition of mosquitoes was studied in the foci of visceral leishmaniasis in the Navoiy and Samarkand Provinces of Uzbekistan. The human settlements where these observations were made were located at 1000-1200 m above sea level. Seven species: Phlebotomus sergenti, P. caucasicus, P. longiductus, P. papatasi, P. alexandri, Sergetomyia sumbarica, and S. grecovi were found. The predominant species was P. sergenti; P. longiductus was a vector for visceral leishmaniasis, which was present in all the collected samples. Bovine animal and small cattle yards were ascertained to be the hatching of mosquito eggs.

[The species composition and epidemiological significance of mosquitoes (Diptera, Psychodidae, Phlebotominae) in the foci of visceral leishmaniasis in the Papsky District, Namangan Region, Uzbekistan].

In 2008, mosquito observations were made in 4 populated areas of the Papsky District, Namangan Region, Uzbekistan (Fergana Valley), where visceral leishmaniasis cases had been registered. The mosquitoes were caught in Oltinkan, Gulistan, Chodak, and Chorkesar in July and in Oltinkan in September. A total of 7245 mosquitoes were caught in the living and utility premises during the observation period. The mosquito fauna of this focus was found to represent 10 species: P. papatasi, P. sergenti, P. alexandri, P. caucasicus, P. nuri, P. keshishiani, P. angustus, P. longiductus, S. grecovi, and S. sumbarica. It also contained P. papatasi, a vehicle for transmission of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis, P. sergenti, an anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis vehicle, and P. longiductus, a visceral leishmaniasis one. The major site of hatching and habitat for mosquitoes were utility premises for large and small cattle. A polymerase chain reaction was used to determine mosquito infestation with L. infantum. A total of 38 female pools of 5 species: P. papatasi, P. sergenti, P. keshishiani, P. angustus, and P. longiductus were tested. Testing of female mosquitoes for L. infantum yielded a negative result.

[The epidemiological features of visceral leishmaniasis, revealed on examination of children by polymerase chain reaction, in the Papsky District, Namangan Region, Uzbekistan].

Patients with visceral leishmaniasis (VL) have been registered in the Papsky District, Namangan Region, Uzbekistan, over the past 23 years. A total of 95 patients were notified in 1987 to 2009. In 2007-2008, a mass survey using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) within the international INTAS project 05-100006-8043 was conducted in 5 population aggregates of the Papsky District, Namangan Region, Uzbekistan, where VL cases had been regularly registered in the last years. Bone marrow and venous and peripheral blood smears were used as a test material. A total of 234 samples, including 3 bone marrow biopsy specimens, 9 venous blood samples and 222 peripheral blood ones, were tested. All the samples were on the glass slides. Three groups were identified among the examinees. Group 1 consisted of 13 subjects who had been ill at different times. Group 2 comprised 27 children treated at hospital for various diagnoses. Group 3 (the largest one, n=190) included apparently healthy children. All the children of this group felt well and had no symptoms of any illnesses at the examination. In this group, 85 (44.7%) subjects were PCR-positive. Twenty-four (55.8%) of 43 children in the age group of 0-3 years were PCR-positive; the 4-7-year age group comprised 66 subjects and 33 (50%) of them were PCR-positive. Group over 7 years of age included 81 subjects; 45 (55.5%) were PCR-positive. The results of the mass survey with PCR, which covered the 5 population aggregates in the Papsky District, Namangan Region, Uzbekistan, suggest the epidemic activity of a synathropic focus of VL and make us look at many fixed notions of its epidemiology in new contexts.

[Human and canine visceral leishmaniasis in the Papsky District, Namangan Region, Uzbekistan: seroepidemiological and seroepizootological surveys].

In 2007 - 2008, four (Chodak, Oltinkan, Gulistan, and Chorkesar) of 9 population aggregates in the Papsky District, Namangan Region, Uzbekistan, where visceral leishmaniasis (VL) cases had been registered in the last years were selected to make seroepidemiological and seroepizootological surveys within the international project funded by INTAS grant 05-100006-8043. The surveys of the populations were conducted visiting their homesteads. These additionally included children's and health care facilities where all children aged less than 14 years were examined. On examining the children, their peripheral blood (approximately 0.1 ml) was taken on filter paper for serological assays. Canine blood was sampled from the vein. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was carried out to detect antibodies to VL pathogens. A total of 521 children were examined for two years, by applying ELISA. Five hundred and fourteen blood samples from children younger than 14 years, 162 dogs, 4 foxes, and 1 cat were tested. Testing 514 children's blood samples for VL pathogen antigen ascertained that in the 4 population aggregates there was an average of 10% VL-seropositive children, including those who were ill with VL at the moment of the examination and had been ill. The highest number of VL-seropositive samples (14.9%) was found in the settlement of Chodak. VL pathogen antibodies were detected in 26 (61.9%) of 42 dogs with the clinical signs of VL. VL-positive tests were found in 26 (21.6%) of 120 apparently healthy dogs. The samples from 4 foxes and 1 cat were negative. Immunological findings indicated that 0-3-year-old children were a group that is most susceptible to VL in the study focus of this disease. The high proportion of dogs with VL may account for the rise in infant morbidity and suggests the epizootic strain in the focus of VL in the Papsky District.

[The spread and epidemiological value of mosquitoes (Diptera, Psichodidae, Phlebotominae) of the Caucasus].

The Caucasus mosquito fauna was studied on the basis of the papers published in the 20th century. Due to the new classification developed by M.M. Artemyeva, the presence of 17 mosquito species: P.papatasi, P.sergenti, P.caucasicus, P.alexandri, P.jacusieli, P.kandelakii, P.neglectus, P.per-filiewi, P.tobbi, P.transcaucasicus, P.wenyoni, P.balcanicus, P.brevis, P.halepensis, S.dentate dentate, S.palestinensis, and S.hodsoni pawlowskyi should be considered most significant. The ecology of the mosquito species that are of medical importance is described. Maps of the spread of the mosquitoes that are of epidemiological importance have been complied on the basis of the materials by different authors on the registration of specific mosquito species in the human settlements of the Transcaucasia and North Caucasus. The spread of mosquitoes in the North Caucasus remains inadequately studied today.

[Nikolai Ivanovich Latyshev (on the occasion of 125th anniversary of his birth)].

This paper is devoted to the scientific activity of Russia's most eminent parasitologist N. I. Latyshev. The paper gives its stages and the main areas of his studies of parasitic tropic diseases (malaria, tick-borne relapsing fever, pappataci fever, leishmaniasis, etc.) in the areas of Central Asia and Caucasus. N. I. Latyshev's scientific works made a great contribution to the teaching of the natural focal pattern of leishmaniasis and could further substantiate the principles of cutaneous leishmaniasis control in the endemic areas.

[Milestones and major results of studies on leishmaniasis and sand fly fevers in Turkmenistan].

Among the countries endemic for tropical diseases, Turkmenistan along with Uzbekistan has a special role to play in having basic scientific knowledge of leishmaniasis. This article summarizes the principal scientific findings in the course of the 20th century in respect of leishmaniasis and sand fly fevers. The most important results of studies on cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis are cited. The role of different researchers in the epidemiology, epizootology, natural focality of these diseases, their clinical aspects, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention are described in detail. The paper gives information obtained by the latest studies on the etiology of leishmaniasis. The most important publications on this topic are assessed. Particular emphasis is laid on the results of the Anti-Leishmaniasis Expedition carried out by the researchers of the E.I. Martsinovsky Institute of Medical Parasitology and Tropical Medicine to the Tedjen oasis of Turkmenistan.

[Landscape-epidemiological zoning of Turkmenistan by leishmaniasis].

Based on the long-term (1961-1992) study of the parasitic systems of zoonotic cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis in the context of a landscape, the authors made an epidemiological regional and typological zoning of Turkmenistan. Regional zoning identified 13 districts by zoonotic cutanenous leishmaniasis and 6 districts by visceral leishmaniasis. While typologically zoning according to the human hazard ofzoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis, the authors divided the landscapes of Turkmenistan into 5 groups: hyperendemic; mesoendemic; hypoendemic; enzootic by cutaneous leishmaniasis, but not dangerous to man; nonenzootic by cutaneous leishmaniasis and not dangerous to man. While typologically zoning with respect with visceral leishmaniasis, the authors divided them into 4 groups: epidemically hazardous landscapes of sandy deserts and semisavanna low-mountain of South-Eastern Turkmenistan; epidemically hazardous landscapes of foothills, low-mountains, and middle mountains of Kopetdag; epidemiologically potentially dangerous landscapes of the piedmont plain of Kopetdag and the valley of the Murgab river; nonenzootic landscapes in terms of visceral leishmaniasis, and those not dangerous to man.

[Visceral leishmaniasis in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS): results and basic lines of further study].

The results of studies of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) made in the 20th century in the Commonwealth of Independent States that are VL-endemic, such as Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrghyzstan, Tadjikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan are summed up. The magnitude of studies of VL in different regions is different. The authors analyze the epidemiological and epizootological situation and define the basic lines of further studies of VL, which include the present view of the prevalence of VL in Central Asia and Transcaucasia; identification of strains of the pathogen by molecular genetic methods; study of its vectors; detection of natural reservoirs of the pathogen, improvement of methods for VL diagnosis; and their introduction into laboratories' work.

[The multiyear changes in the epidemic activity of the foci of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis at the Murgab oasis. I. An analysis of the relations of morbidity to heliogeophysical factors]. / Mnogoletnie izmeneniia épidemicheskoi aktivnosti ochagov zoonoznogo kozhnogo leishmanioza v Murgabskom oazise. Soobshchenie I. Analiz sviazei zabolevaemosti s geliogeofizicheskimi faktorami.

Attempts were made to analyse the relationships of changes in the pattern of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) morbidity by the 1951-1993 statistics of the Turkmenistan Ministry of Health by the areas of Maryiskii velaiat with heliogeophysical factors. For quantitative characterization of solar activity changes, various indices were used; among them there was the Wolf number, radio radiation flux at a wavelength of 10.7 cm. and the geomagnetic Aa-index. In some many-year observations, vague cyclic variations were detected on a personal computer by spectral and periodogram analyses proved to be effective in other diseases. Correlation and cross-correlation analyses were used to evaluate the possible relationships between the morbidity rates and the changes in heliogeophysical factors. The study has revealed that the epidemic activity of ZCL foci is characterized by cyclicity with variations of about 2.4, 3.6, 6.9, and 11.2 years. The changes in ZCL morbidity in the areas, including the natural ZCL foci of Murgab delta landscapes, slightly differ from those in the areas with valley foci in the south part of the velayat in the duration and expression of cycles. At the same time sun-caused 11-year cycles are observed in all groups of the areas, though they are slightly more pronounced in the north than in the south. The greatest epidemic outbreaks (1956-1957, 1965, 1977, and 1986-1988) occurred in various areas of the Murgab oasis on an average of 1-3 years after the minimum of 11-year solar cycles. Noteworthy, they are greatly marked in odd solar activity cycles (the 1957 and 1977 outbreaks) in many areas. Among the parameters chosen, the radio flux of solar radiation at a wavelenght of 10.7 cm and the Wolf number (the correlation coefficients are as high as 0.30-0.50 at P = 0.95) are closely related with ZCL morbidity changes when the plot is shifted. At the same time the values of the geomagnetic Aa-index are unlikely to greatly affect changes in the epidemiological situation. The regularities revealed are of particular significance for long-term prediction of the greatest rises of ZCL morbidity rates. Taking into account the estimated solar activity changes within the next years, one may expect activation of natural ZCL foci and, in case of untimely use of prophylactic measures, the following rise in the population's morbidity in 1998-1999.

[The characteristics of the topographical distribution of leishmaniasis in Turkmenistan]. / Osobennosti landshaftnogo raspredeleniia leishmaniozov v Turkmenistane.

Long-term studies of the spread zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) and visceral leishmaniasis (VL) have revealed that the prevalence of the disease is associated with definite landscapes. ZCL is constantly notified in the valley-delta, undermountainous (lowland) landscapes. VL is common in the sandy desert areas of the southeastern Kara-Kum, in the valley on Murgab, in the piedmont and low-mountainous areas of the Kopet-Dagh. The spread of ZCL coincides with the landscape P .papatasi distribution and that of VL with P.turanicus. There is cyclic recurrence in activation of a VL natural focus and an association of case histories with definite administrative areas in particular periods.

[The isoenzyme identification of Leishmania isolates taken from greater gerbils, sandflies and human patients in foci of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in Turkmenistan]. / Izoénzimnaia identifikatsiia izoliatov leishmanii, vydelennykh ot bol'shikh peschanok, moskitov i bol'nykh liudei v ochagakh zoonoznogo kozhnogo leishmanioza v Turkmenistane.

In 1991-1992, 230 isolates were obtained in the Tedzhen oasis and its adjacent desert areas: 172 isolates from great gerbils, 39 from P. papatasi, and 19 from human cutaneous leishmaniasis patients. All the isolates were identified by the isoenzyme polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis by 8 enzymes. The characteristics of Leishmania circulation in the hyperendemic foci of Turkmenistan were similar to those previously studied in the mesoendemic areas of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. L. turanica which is non-pathogenic for man prevailed among infected great gerbils in winter, spring, and early summer, making the natural foci epidemiologically safe in that period of time. It was only in August-September that the great gerbil infection rate by L. major appeared to increase, occasionally reaching 100%. Epizootics due to L. major are developing in the presence of L. turanica, therefore most isolates are clone mixtures of L. major and L. turanica. P. papatasi is the only vector in the Tedzhen oasis; there has been strong evidence for its transmission of both L. major and L. turanica, which makes the concept inconsistent that P. papatasi is associated only with L. major. The overall analysis of recent findings of the distribution of L. major in the populations of great gerbils makes it possible to limit the former endemic zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis areas to 40 degrees N latitude and the southern borders of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Within this area, the distribution of L. major is uneven and associated basically with rivers, valleys, oases, and foothill desert plains.

[Isolation of the Isfahan virus in Turkmenia]. / Vydelenie virusa Isfagan v Turkmenii.

This is a first report on the isolation in the USSR of Isfahan virus belonging to the Rhabdoviridae family. Two strains, T-200 and T-227, were isolated from a pool of 100 and 95 engorged Phlebotomus papatasi females collected in colonies of great gerbils in June and August, 1979, in the Kirov district, Turkmenia. According to the results of previous investigations, the human population and great gerbils in this areas were frequently found to have antibody to Isfahan virus. The strains were identified by complement fixation, indirect immunofluorescence, indirect hemagglutination tests and neutralization by the plaque reduction technique. The viruses are held by filters with pore diameter less than 100 nm, are destroyed by sodium deoxycholate, at the state of reproduction are not sensitive to 5-brom-2-deoxyuridine.