Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
Higher Institute of Nursing and Health Techniques, Tanger, Morocco.
Zoonoses Public Health. 2023 Sep;70(6):555-567. doi: 10.1111/zph.13065. Epub 2023 Jun 19.
Morphological and DNA-based complemented approaches were applied for characterization of sympatric populations of Phlebotomus longicuspis and Phlebotomus perniciosus in Morocco. Both sand fly species are generally recorded in sympatry in North Africa but on few occasions have been molecularly characterized. The diagnostic confusion of these species has led to errors in their geographical distribution and probably, in the assignment of their role in the transmission of L. infantum. Sand flies were caught inside households in El Borouj, central Morocco, in 2014-2015. For female sand flies, detection of L. infantum natural infection and blood meal identification were carried out. According to morphological identification, Phlebotomus longicuspis s.l. (34.7%) was the second most abundant Phlebotomus species after P. sergenti, followed by atypical Phlebotomus perniciosus (7.1%); 11.6% of the male specimens of P. longicuspis s.l. were identified as P. longicuspis LCx according to the number of coxite setae. The density of Larroussius species was very high (31 Larroussius/light trap/night) in the peripheral neighbourhood of Oulad Bouchair (p = 0.001) where the first case of cutaneous leishmaniasis due to Leishmania infantum was detected in 2017. Phylogenetic trees based on three independent genes highlighted three well-supported clusters within P. perniciosus complex that could be interpreted as corresponding to P. perniciosus, P. longicuspis s.s. and an undescribed species, all coexisting in sympatry. Some females with typical morphology of P. longicuspis were genetically homologous to P. perniciosus. The taxa cannot be differentiated by morphological methods but characterized by a distinctive genetic lineage for which the synapomorphic characters are described. Leishmania infantum was detected in females of all clusters with a low parasite load. Population genetics will help to assess the threat of the geographical spread of L. infantum in Morocco by determining the density, abundance and vector role of the species of the P. perniciosus complex identified correctly.
采用形态学和基于 DNA 的互补方法对摩洛哥同域分布的长角血蜱和白蛉按蚊进行了特征描述。这两种沙蝇通常在北非同域分布，但很少进行分子特征描述。这些物种的诊断混淆导致了它们地理分布的错误，可能也导致了它们在传播利什曼原虫中的作用的错误分配。2014 年至 2015 年，在摩洛哥中部的 El Borouj 家庭内捕获了沙蝇。对雌性沙蝇进行了天然感染利什曼原虫的检测和血液餐的鉴定。根据形态学鉴定，长角血蜱 s.l.（34.7%）是继 P. sergenti 之后第二丰富的白蛉属物种，其次是非典型白蛉按蚊（7.1%）；根据 coxite 刚毛数，11.6%的长角血蜱 s.l.雄性标本被鉴定为 P. longicuspis LCx。Larroussius 种的密度非常高（31 只/Larroussius/诱捕器/夜），在 Oulad Bouchair 的周边地区（p=0.001），2017 年首次发现了由利什曼原虫引起的皮肤利什曼病病例。基于三个独立基因的系统发育树突出了白蛉按蚊复合体中的三个支持良好的聚类，可解释为对应于白蛉按蚊、长角血蜱 s.s.和一个未描述的物种，所有这些都在同域共存。一些具有典型长角血蜱形态的雌性在遗传上与白蛉按蚊同源。形态学方法无法区分这些分类群，但通过独特的遗传谱系来区分，描述了它们的共形特征。所有聚类的雌性中都检测到低寄生虫负荷的利什曼原虫。通过确定正确识别的白蛉按蚊复合体的密度、丰度和媒介作用，可以进行种群遗传学研究，以评估利什曼原虫在摩洛哥的地理传播的威胁。
