Journal of Medical Entomology (2017) 54, 429-434

Atchara Phumee, Apiwat Tawatsin, Usavadee Thavara, Theerakamol Pengsakul, Suwich Thammapalo, Jérôme Depaquit, Frédérick Gay and Padet Siriyasatien (2017)
Detection of an unknown Trypanosoma DNA in a Phlebotomus stantoni (Diptera: Psychodidae) collected from southern Thailand and records of new sand flies with reinstatement of Sergentomyia hivernus Raynal and Gaschen, 1935 (Diptera: Psychodidae)
Journal of Medical Entomology 54 (2), 429-434
Abstract: Although female sand flies are best known as the vectors of Leishmania parasites and viruses, several previous reports have demonstrated that these insects can also act as vectors for the trypanosomes of bats, lizards, and snakes. In this report, we created an inventory of Phlebotomine sand flies from southern Thailand. A novel trypanosome was found in a specimen of Phlebotomus stantoni, and two sand fly species newly recorded in the country, Sergentomyia khawi and Sergentomyia hivernus, were described. PCR primer pairs specific for the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) and the small subunit ribosomal DNA (SSU rDNA) gene of trypanosomatids were used to demonstrate the presence of the parasite in the sand fly. In addition, the Cytochrome b (CytB) gene was used to identify the sand fly species. Among the 45 samples of the sand fly that were collected, seven samples were Ph. stantoni sand flies and a single sample was positive for Trypanosoma sp. through PCR analysis. This study represents the first detection of Trypanosoma sp. in a sand fly from Thailand. The ITS1 and SSU rDNA sequences indicated that this specimen is suspected to be a novel Trypanosoma species. Further studies of this suspected new Trypanosoma species, including its vertebrate hosts and pathogenic potential, are therefore necessary.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Jérôme Depaquit

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
surveys/sampling/distribution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Sergentomyia (genus)		Thailand
	Phlebotomus stantoni		Thailand