Epidemiology of Visceral Leishmaniasis with Emphasis on the Dynamic Activity of Sand Flies in an Important Endemic Focus of Disease in Northwestern Iran
-
Ehssan Mozaffari
,
Hassan Vatandoost
,
Yavar Rassi
,
Mehdi Mohebali
,
Amir Ahmad Akhavan
,
Eslam Moradi-Asl
,
Zabihola Zarei
,
Alieza Zahrai-Ramazani
,
Esmail Ghorbani
Abstract
Background: Leishmaniasis diseases are known to be one of the most important public health problems in World and Iran. Visceral leishmaniasis is considered to be the most serious form and transmitted by sand flies species. The aim of this study was to investigate the dynamic activities of sandflies in northwestern Iran.
Methods: This crass-sectional study was conducted from April to December 2018 in Meshkinshahr County, Ardabil Province. Sticky traps have been used to collect sand flies. They are stored in 70% alcohol and finally identified using valid keys. The aspects of the synoptic information were inquired from the Meshkin Shahr weather department and results analyzed for SPSS24.
Results: Totally 259 sandflies were collected during study period. From collected samples 78.7% were male and 21.3% female. There were 8 different species. Phlebotomus kandelakii was the most prevalent one (30.8%). The average temperature, relative humidity, and average wind speed was 13.5 °C, 84%, and 2 meters per hour on the onset of sandflies’ activity, respectively. These values were 18.3 °C, 85% and 1.5 meters per hour at the peak of their activity and 16 °C, 62% and 5 meters per hour at the final stage of their activity. Sand flies had one peak in July which is strongly influenced by temperature and humidity conditions. Two species of Ph. kandelakii and Phlebotomus perfilewi transcaucasicus, had the highest activity in this endemic area.
Conclusion: The results of current study will provide a guideline for control of diseases in the country.
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20. Ghorbani E, Rassi Y, Abai M, Akhavan AA (2014) Fauna and monthly activity of sand flies at endemic focus of visceral leishmaniasis in the west territory compared to the east of Meshkinshahr District, Ardebil Province. J Sch Public Health Inst Public Health Res. 12(3): 97–109.
21. Alexander B, Maroli M (2003) Control of phlebotomine sandflies. Med Vet Entomol. 17(1): 1–18.
22. Alten B, Maia C, Afonso MO, Campino L, Jiménez M, González E, Rahola N, Thierry M, Sereno D, Bongiorno G, Bianchi R, Khoury C, Tsirigotakis N, Dokianakis M, Antoniou M, Christodoulou V, Mazeris A, Karakus M, Ozbel Y, Arserim SK, Erisoz Kasap O, Gunay F, Oguz G, Kaynas S, Tsertsvadze N, Tskhvaradze L, Giorgobiani E, Gramiccia M, Volf P, Gradoni L (2016) Seasonal dynamics of phlebotomine sand fly species proven vectors of Mediterranean leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania infantum. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 10 (2): 1–22.
23. Fischer D, Moeller P, Thomas SM, Naucke TJ, Beierkuhnlein C (2011) Combining climatic projections and dispersal ability: a method for estimating the responses of sandfly vector species to climate change. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 5(11): 1–13.
24. Rivas GB, de Souza NA, Peixoto AA, Bruno RV (2014) Effects of temperature and photoperiod on daily activity rhythms of Lutzomyia longipalpis (Diptera: Psychodidae). Parasit Vectors. 7(1): 1–9.
25. Karimi A, Hanafi-Bojd AA, Yaghoobi-Ershadi MR, Akhavan AA, Ghezelbash Z (2014) Spatial and temporal distributions of phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae), vectors of leishmaniasis, in Iran. Acta Trop. 132: 131–139.
26. Antoniou M, Gramiccia M, Molina R, Dvorak V, Volf P (2013) The role of indigenous phlebotomine sandflies and mammals in the spreading of leishmaniasis agents in the Mediterranean region. Euro Surveill. 18(30): 20540.
27. Azizi K, Rassi Y, Javadian E, Motazedian M, Rafizadeh S, Yaghoobi Ershadi M, Mohebalai M (2006) Phlebotomus (Paraphlebotomus) alexandri: a probable vector of Leishmania infantum in Iran. Ann Trop Med Parasit. 100(1): 63–68.
28. Cardim MFM, Guirado MM, Dibo MR, Chiaravalloti Neto F (2016) Visceral leishmaniasis in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil: spatial and space-time analysis. Rev Saude Publica. 6: 50.
29. Jeyaram A, Kesari S, Bajpai A, Bhunia G, Krishna Murthy Y (2012) Risk Zone modelling and early warning system for visceral leishmaniasis kala-azar disease in bihar, India using remote sensing and GIS. ISPRS- Int Arch Photogramm Remote Sens Spat Inf Sci... XXXIX-B8, 71–75.
30. Sudhakar S, Srinivas T, Palit A, Kar S, Battacharya S (2006) Mapping of risk prone areas of kala-azar (Visceral leishmaniasis) in parts of Bihar state, India: an RS and GIS approach. J Vector borne Dis. 43(3): 115–122.
2. Chappuis F, Sundar S, Hailu A, Ghalib H, Rijal S, Peeling RW, Alvar J, Boelaert M (2007) Visceral leishmaniasis: what are the needs for diagnosis, treatment and control? Nat Rev Microbiol. 5(11): 873–882.
3. Millán J, Ferroglio E, Solano-Gallego L (2014) Role of wildlife in the epidemiology of Leishmania infantum infection in Europe. Parasitol Res. 113(5): 1993–1995.
4. Di Muccio T, Scalone A, Bruno A, Marangi M, Grande R, Armignacco O, Gradoni L, Gramiccia M (2015) Epidemiology of imported leishmaniasis in Italy: Implications for a European endemic country. PLoS One. 10(6): e0129418.
5. Savoia D (2015) Recent updates and perspectives on leishmaniasis. J Infect Dev Ctries. 9(06): 588–596.
6. Ready PD (2014) Epidemiology of visceral leishmaniasis Clin Epidemiol. 3(6): 147–154.
7. Quinnell RJ, Courtenay O (2009) Transmission, reservoir hosts and control of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis. Parasitol. 136 (14): 1915–1934.
8. Mohebali M (2018) Visceral leishmaniasis in Iran: review of the epidemiological and clinical features. Iran J Parasitol. 8(3): 34–358.
9. Mohebali M, Moradi-Asl E, Rassi Y (2018) Geographic distribution and spatial analysis of Leishmania infantum infection in do¬mestic and wild animal reservoir hosts of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis in Iran: A systematic review. J Vector Borne Dis. 55 (3): 173–183.
10. Kasiri H, Javadian E, Seyedi-Rashti M (2009) List of Phlebotominae (Diptera: Psychodidae) of Iran. Bull Soc Pathol Exot. 93(2): 129–130.
11. Moradi-Asl E, Rassi Y, Adham D, Hanafi-Bojd AA, Saghafipour A, Rafizadeh S (2018) Spatial distribution of sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae; Larroussius group), the vectors of visceral leishmaniasis in North¬west of Iran. Asian Pac J Trop Bio. 8(9): 425–430.
12. Rassi Y, Dehkordi AS, Oshaghi MA, Abai MR, Mohtarami F, Enayati A, Zarei Z, Javadian E (2012) First report on natural infection of the Phlebotomus tobbi by Leishmania infantum in northwestern Iran. Exp Parasitol. 31(3): 344–349.
13. Rassi Y, Javadian E, Nadim A, Rafizadeh S, Zahraii A, Azizi K, Mohebalai M (2009) Phlebotomus perfiliewi transcaucasicus, a vector of Leishmania infantum in northwestern Iran. J Med Entomol. 46(5): 1094–1098.
14. Rassi Y, Javadian E, Nadim A, Zahraii A, Vatan¬doost H, Motazedian H, Azizi K, Mohebali M (2005) Phlebotomus (Larroussius) kandelakii the principal and proven vector of visceral leishmaniasis in north west of Iran. Pak J Biol Sci. 8(12): 1802–1806.
15. Moradi-Asl E, Rassi Y, Hanafi-Bojd AA, Saghafipour A (2019) Spatial distribution and infection rate of leishmaniasis vectors (Diptera: Psychodidae) in Ardabil Province, northwest of Iran. Asian Pac J Trop Bio. 9(5): 181–187.
16. Rassi Y, Hanafi-Bojd A (2006) Phlebotomine sand flies, vectors of Leishmaniases: Morphology, biology, ecology, and field and laboratory methods with pictorial key of Iranian sand flies. Noavaran-Elm Publication, Tehran, Iran.
17. Theodor O, Mesghali A (1964) On the phlebotominae of Iran. J Med Entomol. 1 (3): 285–300.
18. Moradi-Asl E, Hanafi-Bojd AA, Rassi Y, Vatandoost H, Mohebali M, Yaghoobi-Ershadi MR, Habibzadeh S, Hazrati S, Rafizadeh S (2017) Situational analysis of visceral leishmaniasis in the most im-portant endemic area of the disease in Iran. J Arthropod Borne Dis. 11(4): 482–496.
19. Absavaran A, Rassi Y, Parvizi P, Oshaghi M, Abaie M, Rafizadeh S, Mohebalai M, Zarei Z, Javadian E (2009) Identification of sand flies of the subgenus Larroussius based on molecular and morphological characters in North Western Iran. Iran J Arthropod Borne Dis. 3(2): 22–35.
20. Ghorbani E, Rassi Y, Abai M, Akhavan AA (2014) Fauna and monthly activity of sand flies at endemic focus of visceral leishmaniasis in the west territory compared to the east of Meshkinshahr District, Ardebil Province. J Sch Public Health Inst Public Health Res. 12(3): 97–109.
21. Alexander B, Maroli M (2003) Control of phlebotomine sandflies. Med Vet Entomol. 17(1): 1–18.
22. Alten B, Maia C, Afonso MO, Campino L, Jiménez M, González E, Rahola N, Thierry M, Sereno D, Bongiorno G, Bianchi R, Khoury C, Tsirigotakis N, Dokianakis M, Antoniou M, Christodoulou V, Mazeris A, Karakus M, Ozbel Y, Arserim SK, Erisoz Kasap O, Gunay F, Oguz G, Kaynas S, Tsertsvadze N, Tskhvaradze L, Giorgobiani E, Gramiccia M, Volf P, Gradoni L (2016) Seasonal dynamics of phlebotomine sand fly species proven vectors of Mediterranean leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania infantum. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 10 (2): 1–22.
23. Fischer D, Moeller P, Thomas SM, Naucke TJ, Beierkuhnlein C (2011) Combining climatic projections and dispersal ability: a method for estimating the responses of sandfly vector species to climate change. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 5(11): 1–13.
24. Rivas GB, de Souza NA, Peixoto AA, Bruno RV (2014) Effects of temperature and photoperiod on daily activity rhythms of Lutzomyia longipalpis (Diptera: Psychodidae). Parasit Vectors. 7(1): 1–9.
25. Karimi A, Hanafi-Bojd AA, Yaghoobi-Ershadi MR, Akhavan AA, Ghezelbash Z (2014) Spatial and temporal distributions of phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae), vectors of leishmaniasis, in Iran. Acta Trop. 132: 131–139.
26. Antoniou M, Gramiccia M, Molina R, Dvorak V, Volf P (2013) The role of indigenous phlebotomine sandflies and mammals in the spreading of leishmaniasis agents in the Mediterranean region. Euro Surveill. 18(30): 20540.
27. Azizi K, Rassi Y, Javadian E, Motazedian M, Rafizadeh S, Yaghoobi Ershadi M, Mohebalai M (2006) Phlebotomus (Paraphlebotomus) alexandri: a probable vector of Leishmania infantum in Iran. Ann Trop Med Parasit. 100(1): 63–68.
28. Cardim MFM, Guirado MM, Dibo MR, Chiaravalloti Neto F (2016) Visceral leishmaniasis in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil: spatial and space-time analysis. Rev Saude Publica. 6: 50.
29. Jeyaram A, Kesari S, Bajpai A, Bhunia G, Krishna Murthy Y (2012) Risk Zone modelling and early warning system for visceral leishmaniasis kala-azar disease in bihar, India using remote sensing and GIS. ISPRS- Int Arch Photogramm Remote Sens Spat Inf Sci... XXXIX-B8, 71–75.
30. Sudhakar S, Srinivas T, Palit A, Kar S, Battacharya S (2006) Mapping of risk prone areas of kala-azar (Visceral leishmaniasis) in parts of Bihar state, India: an RS and GIS approach. J Vector borne Dis. 43(3): 115–122.
| Files | ||
| Issue | Vol 14 No 1 (2020) | |
| Section | Original Article | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.18502/jad.v14i1.2716 | |
| Keywords | ||
| Phlebotomus kandelakii; Phlebotomus perfilewi transcaucasicus; Visceral leishmaniasis; Iran | ||
| Rights and permissions | |
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
How to Cite
1.
Mozaffari E, Vatandoost H, Rassi Y, Mohebali M, Akhavan AA, Moradi-Asl E, Zarei Z, Zahrai-Ramazani A, Ghorbani E. Epidemiology of Visceral Leishmaniasis with Emphasis on the Dynamic Activity of Sand Flies in an Important Endemic Focus of Disease in Northwestern Iran. J Arthropod Borne Dis. 2019;14(1):97–105.
