Phlebotomine sand flies and canine infection in areas of human visceral leishmaniasis, Cuiabá, Mato Grosso

Abstract

Visceral leishmaniasis is a systemic infectious disease that can cause to a severe, potentially life-threatening chronic condition in humans. Risk factors for infection in urban areas have been associated with poor living conditions, the presence of sand fly vectors and infected pets. This study aimed to describe sand fly and canine infection in the neighborhoods of human visceral leishmaniasis occurrence in the city of Cuiabá, Mato Grosso State, central-western Brazil, reported between January 2005 and December 2006. A total of 1,909 sand flies were collected. They were predominantly males and the most frequent species were Lutzomyia cruzi (81.25%), Lutzomyia whitmani (13.88%) and Lutzomyia longipalpis (2.62%). The sand fly density was not significantly correlated with the variation of environmental factors. The prevalence of canine visceral leishmaniasis in the neighborhoods studied was 26.82% and it was found that areas with high density of vectors coincided with areas of high prevalence of dogs and those with the highest rates of human cases. The study of vectors and other potential hosts are essential for a good understanding of visceral leishmaniasis and the related public health concerns, aiming at the prevention and control of leishmaniasis in the city of Cuiabá, Mato Grosso State.

Canine visceral leishmaniasis: seroprevalence and risk factors in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil

“…Although cases of human and canine VL were previously reported in this area (MESTRE et al, 2011), the knowledge about these cases by the owners interviewed did not indicate a protection factor, on the contrary, it doubled the chances of their dogs acquire the infection. The lack of garbage collection represented a risk factor (OR 4.53) for the occurrence of dog infection in the Barreiro Branco neighborhood when compared to Coxipó do Ouro, where such service is provided.…”

Factors associated with Leishmania infection in dogs and geospatial analysis in the Sertão of Paraíba, Northeast Brazil

“…Rural and peripheral urban areas tend to have higher occurrence of VL when in proximity to abundant vegetation (Cerbino Neto et al, 2009), which is proven to be the natural habitat of phlebotomine vectors, whose presence is indispensable for the maintenance of the transmission cycle; therefore, entomological monitoring is recommended in localities with active transmission (Borges et al, 2009). In this study, the disease was more prevalent in the rural area, but was dispersed all over the municipality, a fact that, according to Mestre et al (2011) and Paulan et al (2012), is related to the adaptation of the vector to the peridomicile conditions. Such localities are often characterized by a lack of infrastructure or anthropogenic activities, or by the migration of dogs and infected individuals.…”

Zoonotic pathogens in urban animals: Enough research to protect the health of the urban population?

“…had been conducted on dogs in Brazil, two with purposive sampling and four with unknown sampling methodology. Different detection methods yielded different estimates in urban prevalence, with a serological study in Cuiabá having the highest proportion positive of 27% in urban dogs (Mestre et al ., 2011), but the paper contained no information about sampling methodology. In comparison, a study in Dias D’Ávila found only 2.5% positive dogs in the city and 29.9% positive in rural areas, and concluded that leishmaniasis was significantly more common in the countryside (de Oliveira et al ., 2010).…”