Sáez Victoriano Díaz, Morillas-Márquez F, Merino-Espinosa G, Corpas-López V, Morales-Yuste M, Pesson B, Barón-López S, Lucientes-Curdi J, Martín-Sánchez J
Departament of Parasitology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Granada, Campus de Cartuja sn, 18071, Granada, Spain.
Laboratory of Parasitology, University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France.
Parasitol Res. 2018 Apr;117(4):1105-1113. doi: 10.1007/s00436-018-5788-8. Epub 2018 Feb 5.
Burrows of the wild rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus, a lagomorph that has been recently suggested as a Leishmania infantum reservoir, constitute an unspoilt biotope in phlebotomine studies in Europe. We hypothesize that Phlebotomus langeroni, a proven vector of L. infantum in North Africa, is associated with rabbits and may have been overlooked in Europe. Sandfly captures were carried out with CDC light traps in an L. infantum endemic area of southern Spain with a high density of lagomorphs and a large numbers of burrows. The stable, permanent, and highly abundant presence of P. langeroni was assessed. After morphological identification, this sandfly species was characterized by comparing it with P. perniciosus and other P. langeroni populations from North Africa through molecular techniques. P. langeroni had not been found in southern Spain to date, despite being a highly investigated area, except for this particular biotope. Its activity period turned out to begin in mid-July, ending in late October, accounting for a maximum activity during this month. This study shows that P. langeroni is associated with the existence of rabbit burrows and has been overlooked in Europe. L. infantum DNA was found in almost half of the female specimens (47.6%) captured inside a biotope where wild rabbits are infected as well.
野兔穴兔（Oryctolagus cuniculus）的洞穴是欧洲白蛉研究中一处未受破坏的生物群落，穴兔是一种兔形目动物，最近被认为是婴儿利什曼原虫的宿主。我们推测，在北非已被证实为婴儿利什曼原虫传播媒介的朗氏白蛉（Phlebotomus langeroni）与兔子有关，在欧洲可能被忽视了。在西班牙南部一个婴儿利什曼原虫流行区，用疾控中心诱虫灯在穴兔密度高且有大量洞穴的地方捕捉白蛉。评估朗氏白蛉稳定、永久且大量存在的情况。在形态学鉴定后，通过分子技术将这种白蛉与嗜人按蚊（P. perniciosus）及来自北非的其他朗氏白蛉种群进行比较，对其进行特征描述。尽管西班牙南部是一个经过大量调查的地区，但除了这个特定的生物群落外，此前尚未发现朗氏白蛉。结果表明，其活动期始于7月中旬，结束于10月下旬，在8月活动最为频繁。这项研究表明，朗氏白蛉与兔穴的存在有关，在欧洲一直被忽视。在一个野兔也被感染的生物群落内捕获的雌性标本中，近一半（47.6%）检测到婴儿利什曼原虫DNA。
