PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases (2020) 14 (3 - e0007947)

Myrthe Pareyn, Abena Kochora, Luca Van Rooy, Nigatu Eligo, Bram Vanden Broecke, Nigatu Girma, Behailu Merdekios, Teklu Wegayehu, Louis Maes, Guy Caljon, Bernt Lindtjørn, Herwig Leirs and Fekadu Massebo (2020)
Feeding behavior and activity of Phlebotomus pedifer and potential reservoir hosts of Leishmania aethiopica in southwestern Ethiopia
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 14 (3 - e0007947)
Abstract:
Background
Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a major public health concern in Ethiopia. However, knowledge about the complex zoonotic transmission cycle is limited, hampering implementation of control strategies. We explored the feeding behavior and activity of the vector (Phlebotomus pedifer) and studied the role of livestock in CL transmission in southwestern Ethiopia.
Methods
Blood meal origins of engorged sand flies were determined by sequencing host DNA. A host choice experiment was performed to assess the feeding preference of P. pedifer when humans and hyraxes are equally accessible. Ear and nose biopsies from livestock were screened for the presence of Leishmania parasites. Sand flies were captured indoor and outdoor with human landing catches and CDC light traps to determine at which time and where P. pedifer is mostly active.
Principal findings
A total of 180 P. pedifer sand flies were found to bite hosts of 12 genera. Humans were the predominant blood meal source indoors (65.9%, p < 0.001), while no significant differences were determined outdoors and in caves. In caves, hyraxes were represented in blood meals equally as humans (45.5% and 42.4%, respectively), but the host choice experiment revealed that sand flies have a significant preference for feeding on hyraxes (p = 0.009). Only a single goat nose biopsy from 412 animal samples was found with Leishmania RNA. We found that P. pedifer is predominantly endophagic (p = 0.003), but occurs both indoors and outdoors. A substantial number of sand flies was active in the early evening, which increased over time reaching its maximum around midnight.
Conclusion
In contrast to earlier suggestions of exclusive zoonotic Leishmania transmission, we propose that there is also human-to-human transmission of CL in southwestern Ethiopia. Livestock does not play a role in CL transmission and combined indoor and outdoor vector control measures at night are required for efficient vector control.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Full text of article
Database assignments for author(s): Herwig Leirs

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Phlebotomus pedifer		Ethiopia