Environmental suitability for Lutzomyia longipalpis in a subtropical city with a recently established visceral leishmaniasis transmission cycle, Argentina

Abstract

BACKGROUND Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is an endemic disease in northeastern Argentina including the Corrientes province, where the presence of the vector and canine cases of VL were recently confirmed in December 2008.OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to assess the modelling of micro- and macro-habitat variables to evaluate the urban environmental suitability for the spatial distribution of Lutzomyia longipalpis presence and abundance in an urban scenario.METHODS Sampling of 45 sites distributed throughout Corrientes city (Argentina) was carried out using REDILA-BL minilight traps in December 2013. The sampled specimens were identified according to methods described by Galati (2003). The analysis of variables derived from the processing of satellite images (macro-habitat variables) and from the entomological sampling and surveys (micro-habitat variables) was performed using the statistical software R. Three generalised linear models were constructed composed of micro- and macro-habitat variables to explain the spatial distribution of the abundance of Lu. longipalpis and one composed of micro-habitat variables to explain the occurrence of the vector.FINDINGS A total of 609 phlebotominae belonging to five species were collected, of which 56% were Lu. longipalpis. In addition, the presence of Nyssomyia neivai and Migonemya migonei, which are vectors of tegumentary leishmaniasis, were also documented and represented 34.81% and 6.74% of the collections, respectively. The explanatory variable normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) described the abundance distribution, whereas the presence of farmyard animals was important for explaining both the abundance and the occurrence of the vector.MAIN CONCLUSIONS The results contribute to the identification of variables that can be used to establish priority areas for entomological surveillance and provide an efficient transfer tool for the control and prevention of vector-borne diseases.

Multiscale environmental determinants of Leishmania vectors in the urban-rural context

“…To describe the forestrelated populations properly a greater capture effort is required, but also a differentiated strategy of trapping due to the different strata in altitude related to the canopy, the lack of blood sources nearby the placement of traps that could affect the captures. Therefore, to avoid sporadic or unrepresented species in the modeling, only the well-represented species were analysed [15,17,46]. Thus, phlebotomine diversity both in rural and urban environments is related to the heterogeneity of the landscape.…”

“…The high micro-heterogeneity at urban settings provided a broad gradient of resting-breeding sites and clustered meal sources for the species that better support lower environmental humidity, so Lu. longipalpis causing human VL clustered there in "hot spots" [15,21,46,80]. Forecasting the urban distribution of Lu.…”

Phlebotominae in peri‐domestic and forest environments inhabited by Alouatta caraya in northeastern Argentina

“…longipalpis (Rangel et al ., ). Similar results were reported in other localities of northeastern Argentina also surrounded by forest environment (Salomón et al ., , ; Santini et al ., ; Szelag et al ., ; Berrozpe et al ., ). Interestingly, Lu.…”

Presence of Lutzomyia longipalpis and Nyssomyia whitmani in Entre Rios, Argentina

“…So far, the studies carried out in other cities of the Mesopotamia Argentina do not report the presence of this species, but identified specimens of Ny. neivai and other phlebotomine species 8 – 10 , 14 . Ny.…”