Seasonal variation of sand fly populations in Kala-azar endemic areas of the Malda district, West Bengal, India.

Vector control is one of the main aspects to reach the target of eliminating visceral leishmaniasis from Indian sub-continent as set by the World Health Organisation. Data on different aspects of vector like ecology, behaviour, population dynamics and their association with environmental factors are very important for formulating an effective vector control strategy. The present work was designed to study the species abundance and impact of environmental factors on population dynamics of vector P. argentipes in a visceral leishmaniasis endemic area of Malda district, West Bengal. Adult sand flies were collected using light traps and mouth aspirators from twelve kala-azar affected villages of Habibpur block of Malda district, on a monthly basis from January to December, 2018. Morphological and molecular methods were used for species identification. Population dynamics were assessed by man hour density and per night per trap collection. Data were analysed using SPSS software to determine the impact of environmental factors on vector population P. argentipes was found to the predominant species and prevalent throughout the year. A significantly higher number of sand flies were collected from cattle sheds than human dwellings and peri-domestic vegetation. A portion of the P. argentipes population was exophilic and exophagic as evidenced by their collection from peri-domestic vegetation. The highest population density was recorded during April to September. Population dynamics were mostly influenced by average temperature along humidity and rain fall. Resting behaviour of sand flies was not restricted to the lower portion of the wall but equally distributed throughout the wall and ceiling. Programme officials should consider management of outdoor populations of the sand flies and timings of indoor residual spray for chemical control purpose.