Phlebotomine sand flies as vectors of vesiculoviruses: a review.

Phlebotomine sand flies appear to be involved in the epizootiology of 10 of the 16 currently recognized vesiculoviruses. Evidence in support of this includes isolation of viruses from wild-caught male and female sand flies; demonstration of oral infection, replication, and bite transmission of viruses by sand flies; the temporal and/or spatial association between infected sand flies and infected vertebrates; and demonstration of transovarial virus transmission. The present review summarizes the known sand fly-vesiculovirus relationships.