Entomological surveys of Lutzomyia flaviscutellata and other vectors of cutaneous leishmaniasis in municipalities with records of Leishmania amazonensis within the Bragança region of Pará State, Brazil

Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório Interdisciplinar de Vigilância Entomológica em Diptera e Hemiptera. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Leishmanioses Prof. Dr Ralph Lainson. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Leishmanioses Prof. Dr Ralph Lainson. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Leishmanioses Prof. Dr Ralph Lainson. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Leishmanioses Prof. Dr Ralph Lainson. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil.Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Instituto de Biologia. Laboratório de Vertebrados. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Faculty of Infectious Tropical Diseases. Department of Disease Control. London, U.K.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório Interdisciplinar de Vigilância Entomológica em Diptera e Hemiptera. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.ABSTRACT: In southeast Amazon, Lutzomyia (Nyssomyia) flaviscutellata is the incriminated vector of Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis, a causative agent of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). The optimal methods for surveying Lu. flaviscutellata were investigated in the Bragança region, northeast Pará State, Brazil, selected for the presence of Le. amazonensis. The performances of modified Disney traps and CDC light traps were compared in four ecotopes within and around four village transects during the wet and dry seasons. The physiological age of female sand flies was estimated and natural infection by flagellates was evaluated by dissection. Disney traps were better for detecting the presence of Lu. flaviscutellata, while CDC traps performed well for detecting Lutzomyia (Nyssomyia) antunesi, suspected vector of Leishmania lindenbergi. The former was more abundant during the wet season, when female flies were naturally infected with Le. amazonensis. These findings identified the environments of local transmission. In order to improve surveys of Lu. flaviscutellata as part of integrated epidemiological surveillance of CL, our recommendations include focusing vector surveys with Disney traps on forest fragments where people work, during the seasonal peak of the vector. Further field studies are required to make model-based predictions of seasonal variations in the vectorial capacity of vector population