Department of Biology- College of Education, University of Garmian, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Iraq.
Division of Medical Zoology, Department of Infection and Immunity, Jichi Medical University, Tochigi, Japan.
Acta Trop. 2021 Mar;215:105807. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2020.105807. Epub 2020 Dec 29.
Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is transmitted by Phlebotomine sand fly vectors, among which Phlebotomus papatasi is prevalent in Western Asia, Northern Africa and Southern Europe, and it is known as a vector for Leishmania major parasite in the world. However, in Iraq, morphological studies showed that P. papatasi is a predominant sand fly species and hypothesised to transmit CL causing Leishmania species including L. major and L. tropica. Few studies have found Leishmania species in sand flies in mixed pools of samples in this country. Accurate identification of sand flies as vectors of Leishmania species is required in Iraq. The current study aims to identify sand fly species, using both morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses, in a region where CL tends to be endemic. Furthermore, molecular phylogenetic analysis has also used to confirm Leishmania species in the sand fly samples collected in 11 villages between Diyala and Sulaymaniyah Provinces. For the first time, we have found L. major in three individual sand flies, one engorged (with fresh blood meal) and two non-engorged (without visible fresh blood meal) P. papatasi females in an area of CL outbreaks since 2014-till now due to civil wars and internal conflicts happen in the region. Further study should be performed on sand fly population and Leishmania reservoirs in this region.
皮肤利什曼病（CL）通过白蛉沙蝇媒介传播，其中 Phlebotomus papatasi 在西亚、北非和南欧流行，它是世界上已知的利什曼原虫寄生虫的媒介。然而，在伊拉克，形态学研究表明，P. papatasi 是一种主要的沙蝇物种，并假设它传播引起 CL 的利什曼物种，包括 L. major 和 L. tropica。在该国的混合样本中，很少有研究发现沙蝇中的利什曼物种。在伊拉克，需要准确识别沙蝇作为利什曼物种的媒介。本研究旨在使用形态学和分子系统发育分析来识别 CL 倾向流行的地区的沙蝇物种。此外，分子系统发育分析还用于确认在迪亚拉省和苏莱曼尼亚省之间的 11 个村庄收集的沙蝇样本中的利什曼物种。这是我们第一次在由于该地区发生内战和内部冲突而自 2014 年以来一直发生 CL 爆发的地区，从三只饱腹（有新鲜血餐）和两只非饱腹（没有明显新鲜血餐）的 P. papatasi 雌性沙蝇中发现 L. major。应该在该地区进行沙蝇种群和利什曼菌库的进一步研究。
