• Tracking of Leishmania spp. in Iranian Phlebotominae, distribution and biodiversity in Jarqavieh county, central Iran
  • Mahsa Esmaeilifallah,1 Mehdi Haddadnia,2 Parisima Badiezadeh,3 Seyed Mohammad Abtahi,4,*
    1. Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
    2. Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
    3. Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
    4. Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran


  • Introduction: The female sandfly vector's bite is responsible for transmitting Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL), a parasitic disease prevalent in two-thirds of Iran.
  • Methods: This epidemiological and descriptive cross-sectional study took place in 2021 to determine how sandflies are distributed in Hasanabad and Hossein Abad, located in eastern Isfahan province, Central Iran. Semi-nested PCR and sequencing were used to determine the parasite species sandflies captured according to the approved WHO protocol.
  • Results: Overall, 363 collected sandflies were identified morphologically, among which 161 (44.4%) and 202 (55.6%) were isolated from Hasanabad and Hossein Abad, respectively; the largest number was hunted from outdoor places. Also, 34.4% and 65.6% of the sandflies were female and male, respectively. The most prevalent sandfly species were Phlebotomus papatasi (49.9%), followed by Ph. caucasicus (29.6%), Sergentomyia sp. (26.2%) and the rest unknown. Sixty molecularly analyzed sandflies were included Ph. papatasi and S. sintoni, which were found to be infected with L. major, had been exposed to outdoor environments, and hunted in July.
  • Conclusion: These findings showed the importance of monitoring the rodent nests and starting to control and fight the disease from there.
  • Keywords: Leishmania, Cutaneous leishmaniasis, Biodiversity, Vector-borne disease, Sandfly, Zoonoses