Daoudi Mohamed, Calzolari Mattia, Boussaa Samia, Bonilauri Paolo, Torri Deborah, Romeo Giuseppe, Lelli Davide, Lavazza Antonio, Hafidi Mohamed, Dottori Michele, Boumezzough Ali
Microbial Biotechnologies, Agrosciences and Environment Laboratory (BioMAgE), Faculty of Sciences Semlalia, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakesh 40000, Morocco.
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia-Romagna "Bruno Ubertini", Brescia 42124, Italy.
J Infect Public Health. 2022 Apr;15(4):406-411. doi: 10.1016/j.jiph.2022.03.007. Epub 2022 Mar 17.
Phlebotomine sand flies are known as vectors of various pathogens such as Leishmania sp parasite and Toscana virus (TOSV). Leishmaniasis is endemic in Morocco, and TOSV is increasingly reported. Our objective is to analyze the specific composition of the natural population of sand flies in endemic and non endemic area of leishmaniasis in Morocco, thus evaluated their infection by Toscana virus.
Sand flies were collected by CDC miniature light traps from seven different localities with an altitude range from 399 m to 1496 m. Synanthropic index was calculated for each sand fly species. The collected female sand flies were grouped in 73 pools, with a maximum of 50 specimens per pool, and submitted to real time PCR for TOSV detection.
8 sand fly species were identified morphologically: 5 of the Phlebotomus genus and 3 of the Sergentomyia genus. Phlebotomus sergenti was the most abundant species comprising of 43,12% of identified sand flies, followed by P. papatasi (18,89%) and P. longicuspis (13,43%). Estimated synanthropic indices for these species were between + 1.1 and + 12.6 suggesting a high preference to anthropogenic environments. A total of 3558 sand fly females were grouped in 73 pools (up to 50 sand flies per pool) for TOSV detection. TOSV was detected in one pool (out of 6 tested) from Lalla Laaziza locality (Chichaoua Province) where P. sergenti was the most abundant sand fly species.
We reported the TOSV for the first time in a central Morocco, where cutaneous leishmaniasis by L. tropica is endemic. This result has epidemiological importance for both researchers and health authorities to monitor circulation of TOSV and implement a surveillance plan of sand fly-borne phleboviruses in Morocco.
白蛉是多种病原体的传播媒介，如利什曼原虫属寄生虫和托斯卡纳病毒（TOSV）。利什曼病在摩洛哥呈地方性流行，且TOSV的报告日益增多。我们的目标是分析摩洛哥利什曼病流行区和非流行区白蛉自然种群的具体组成，从而评估它们受托斯卡纳病毒的感染情况。
使用疾控中心微型诱虫灯从七个不同地点收集白蛉，海拔范围为399米至1496米。计算每种白蛉的嗜人指数。将收集到的雌性白蛉分成73组，每组最多50只标本，进行实时PCR检测TOSV。
通过形态学鉴定出8种白蛉：5种为白蛉属，3种为司蛉属。 Sergenti白蛉是最常见的种类，占已鉴定白蛉的43.12%，其次是巴氏白蛉（18.89%）和长喙白蛉（13.43%）。这些种类的估计嗜人指数在+1.1至+12.6之间，表明它们对人为环境有高度偏好。总共3558只雌性白蛉被分成73组（每组最多50只白蛉）用于检测TOSV。在拉拉·拉齐扎地区（希乔阿省）的一个样本池（6个检测样本中的1个）中检测到TOSV，该地区Sergenti白蛉是最常见的白蛉种类。
我们首次在摩洛哥中部报告了TOSV，该地热带利什曼原虫引起的皮肤利什曼病呈地方性流行。这一结果对研究人员和卫生当局监测TOSV的传播以及实施摩洛哥白蛉传播的静脉病毒监测计划具有流行病学重要性。
