First report of naturally infected Sergentomyia minuta with Leishmania major in Tunisia

Kaouther Jaouadi , Wissem Ghawar (1, 2) , Sadok Salem , Mohamed Gharbi (3) , Jihène Bettaieb (1, 2) , Rihab Yazidi (1, 2) , Mariem Harrabi , Omar Hamarsheh , Afif Ben Salah

1 Institut Pasteur de Tunis
2 LR11IPT02 - Laboratoire de Transmission, Contrôle et Immunobiologie des Infections - Laboratory of Transmission, Control and Immunobiology of Infection
3 Laboratoire de Parasitologie, Ecole Nationale de Médecine Vétérinaire

Background: Many sand fly species are implicated in the transmission cycle of Leishmania parasites around the world. Incriminating new sand flies species, as vectors of Leishmania is crucial to understanding the parasite-vector transmission cycle in different areas in Tunisia and surrounding countries. Findings: Seventy-four unfed females belonging to the genera Sergentomyia and Phlebotomus were collected in South Tunisia between June and November 2014, using sticky papers. PCR-RFLP (Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism) analysis of the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) was used for Leishmania parasites detection and identification. Leishmania (L.) major (Yakimoff & Shokkor, 1914) was identified within two Sergentomyia (S.) minuta (Rondani, 1843) and one Phlebotomus papatasi (Scopoli, 1786). Conclusion: This is the first report of L. major identified from S. minuta in Tunisia. This novel finding enhances the understanding of the transmission cycle of L. major parasites of cutaneous leishmaniasis in an endemic area in South Tunisia.

Mots clés: Leishmania major; Sergentomyia minuta; Phlebotomus papatasi; Cutaneous leishmaniasis; Tunisia

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Kaouther Jaouadi, Wissem Ghawar, Sadok Salem, Mohamed Gharbi, Jihène Bettaieb, et al.. First report of naturally infected Sergentomyia minuta with Leishmania major in Tunisia. Parasites & Vectors, 2015, 8, ⟨10.1186/s13071-015-1269-4⟩. ⟨hal-01358509⟩