Molecular Survey of Leishmania Infection of Sand Flies in Karun County, Southwestern Iran.

Background: Zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) is widely distributed in Iran and around the world. Also, Khuzestan Province is an endemic focus of ZCL. This study aims to investigate the natural infection of sand flies with the Leishmania parasite in Karun County. Methods: Sand flies were collected from Jangiyeh, Qaleh Chanan, Kut-e-Navaser, and Ghazavieh in the spring and summer in the year of 2019, by installing 60 sticky paper traps each time (30 traps outdoors and 30 traps indoors). Two hundred female sand flies with different abdominal conditions (empty, blood-fed, semi-gravid, and gravid) were examined for infection rate using the Nested-PCR method. Results: In this study, seven species of sand flies including Phlebotomus papatasi, Ph. alexandri, Ph. sergenti, Ph. caucasicus, Sergentomyia tiberiadis, Se. sintoni, and Se. antennata were reported from Karun County, with a frequency of 79.64%, 16.96%, 1.07%, 0.18%, 0.36%, 1.61%, and 0.18%, respectively. Only eleven specimens of Ph. papatasi were found to be positive for Leishmania major, with an overall infection rate of 7.8%. The infection of Ph. papatasi was specifically reported in blood-fed, gravid, and semi-gravid specimens, with infection rates of 17.02%, 4.35%, and 14.29%, respectively. Conclusion: In this study, the infection of L. major from Ph. papatasi was reported. The results can be used in planning the control of ZCL in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]