Natural infection of the sand fly Phlebotomus kazeruni by Trypanosoma species in Pakistan

The natural infection of phlebotomine sand flies by leishmania parasites was surveyed in a desert area of pakistan where cutaneous leishmaniasis is endemic. out of 220 female sand flies dissected,one sand fly,phlebotomus kazeruni,was positive for flagellates in the hindgut. analyses of cytochrome b (cyt b),glycosomal glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase (ggapdh) and small subunit ribosomal rna (ssu rrna) gene sequences identified the parasite as a trypanosoma species of probably a reptile or amphibian. this is the first report of phlebotomine sand flies naturally infected with a trypanosoma species in pakistan. the possible infection of sand flies with trypanosoma species should be taken into consideration in epidemiological studies of vector species in areas where leishmaniasis is endemic. © 2010 kato et al; licensee biomed central ltd.