بررسي فون پشه هاي خاكي در كانون ليشمانيوز احشايي شهرستان اهر ،استان آذربايجان شرقي

A Study of Sand-flies Fauna in The Focus of Visceral Leishmaniasis in Ahar District (Eastern Azarbayjan, Iran

Introduction: Visceral leishmaniasis (kala- azar) is endemic in Iranian provinces of Fars, East Azarbyjan , and Ardebil. Ahar, a district of East Azarbyjan, is another endemic foci of this disease; thus, considering the fact that fulfilling a faunestic study of sand-flies is regarded be the first step to identify the vector species of such a disease, we decided to carry out our research in the mentioned area. Matrials & Methods: The researchers collected sand-flies using sticky trap in six villages of Iranian Province of Eastern Azarbayjan infected with visceral leishmaniasis during May, June, arid July 2002. The trapped sand-flies were then washed using Aceton and preserved in 70% Eithelit Alcohol. All the samples were, afterward, categorized into specific species using reliable keys. Findings: Of all the 1405 collected sand­flies, 19 species were identified as follows: 16 species of phlebotomus, and 3 species of sergentomyia. The species p.kandelakii, p. paptasi , p. perfiliewi, p. sergenti, p.anderjevi with atotal number of 1171 ones covered 83% of the total number of trapped sand-flies .The species of P.caucasicus P.alexandri, P.mongolensis , P.halpensis , P.jacusieli , P. longiductus , P.balcanicus , P.major P. tobbi, P. ansarii , P. bergeroti , S.dentata , S.sintoni , S.pawlowskyi covered totally 234 ones equal to 17% of all the collected sand­flies. Discussion & Conclusion: It is concluded that, considering the much limited coverage of the searched area, the species variety seems to be very interesting and attention- worthy. It also indicates that more species and even new species can be found by carrying out more comprehensive studies in future. The P. anderjevi specie with frequency of 11%, being reported for the first time, showed the highest prevalence in west northern Iran.