Investigation of Species Diversity of Leishmaniasis Vectors (Phlebotomine Sand Flies) in Khusf County, South Khorasan Province (Iran)

Background and Objectives: Leishmaniasis as a zoonosis disease, occurs in three forms of cutaneous, mucocutaneous, and visceral (kala-azar). The causative agent of this disease is a protozoa of the Leishmania genus, which is commonly transmitted by species of sand flies. Given that explanation of an effective control strategy for vector-borne diseases requires identification of the fauna of their vectors, the present study was carried out to detect the fauna of Leishmaniasis vectors in Khusf county.   Methods: In this cross-sectional study, sand flies were captured using sticky traps in different parts of Khusf county from May 2015 to October 2015, Then, the species of female samples were mounted and identified using valid species identification key.   Results: In this study, from total 370 collected sand flies samples, 238 sand flies were related to animal areas and 132 sand flies were from human areas. Out of 115 female sand flies, Phlebotomus sergenti with frequency of 27.82% and Sergentomyia dentata with frequency of 34.78%, were reported as the dominant species in the region.   Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, the dominant species in the region was among the vectors of urban cutaneous leishmaniasis, and considering the presence of Leishmania tropica in the region, the health system of this county must consider required care for the control of cutaneous leishmaniasis disease. &nbsp