Fauna, Abundance and Dispersion of Sandflies in Three Endemic Areas of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Rural Fars Province

Introduction: Leishmaniasis is one of important tropical diseases caused by Leishmania parasites which is transmitted by biting of female phlebotomine sandfies. Regarding high densities' and distribution of sandflies in majority areas of Iran, understanding of sandflies identification and distribution as vectors is importation to control disease. Methods: This is a descriptive survey which was done temporarily, Sandflies were sampled from 17 villages of three studied regions to coordinate with authorities of sanitary province to provide the necessary facilities .foci using sticky papers and CDC traps. All sandflies were identified based on external and internal morphological characters of the head and abdominal terminalia, which were slide-mounted in Berlese fluid. Results: In total 3178 Sandflies were sampled and identified. Sandfies species are P. papatasi, P. bergeroti, P. alexandri, P. sergenti, P. mongolensis, P. tobbi and S. dentate, S. sintoni and S. tiberiadis. sandfly species identified and separated based on habitat collections. Females analysed according to their gonotrophic stage which majority were unfed. Conclusion: The collections contained the important putative vectors of Leishmaniasis in Iran. P. papatasi was abundant in three study foci. Of the sandflies recorded from Iran, only P. papatasi was judged to be a proven vector of Leishmaniasis. Understanding criteria of vectors, population variations and ecological aspect of sandflies can help to control better of diseases