Surveillance of phlebotomine fauna and Didelphis marsupialis (Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae) infection in an area highly endemic for visceral leishmaniasis in Colombia.

CONCLUSIONS: The presence of the Lutzomyia species that have been identified as vectors for Leishmania inside and around houses in the village of El Bledo, in El Carmen de Bolívar represents a risk of infection. Furthermore, the presence of Lu. panamensis is reported for first time in El Carmen de Bolívar in Colombia. Although the lack of detection of Leishmania spp. in D. marsupialis samples may suggest that D. marsupialis does not play an important role in the transmission cycle of Leishmania in this region, it is necessary to carry out further longitudinal studies to confirm this hypothesis. PMID: 31529813 [PubMed - in process]
Source: Biomedica : Revista del Instituto Nacional de Salud - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Biomedica Source Type: research