NOTE ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF PHLEBOTOMINE SAND FLIES
IN SOUTHERN ALBANIA
Aldin Lika
Institute of Food Safety and Veterinary, Department of
Animal Health, Tirana,
Albania
aldin_lika@yahoo.com
Zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a re-emerging
disease in the Mediterranean area. We report one entomological investigation
(May–October 2006) aimed to study the current species composition and
seasonality of Phlebotomine sand
flies in 10 districts of Albania. Standard blacklight
traps (8W
UV light manufactured in Onderstepport, SouthAfrica) employed for
sampling Culicoides midges in
the frame of bluetongue disease surveillance were used for the first time
in Albania
in Phlebotomine monitoring. A
total of 1660 sand flies were collected and five species were identified,
Phlebotomus tobbi, Phlebotomus
neglectus, Phlebotomus perfiliewi, Sergentomyia minutae and Sergentomyia dentate. Among the
species, which may act as Leishmania
infantum vectors, P. tobbi
and P. neglectus were the most
abundant.
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