First report of the main vector of visceral leishmaniasis in America, Lutzomyia longipalpis (Lutz, Neiva, 1912) (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae), in southern Minas Gerais State, Brazil

Abstract

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a widespread zoonosis in Brazil that is highly lethal among untreated individuals, malnourished children, and those who are immunodeficient (Rabello et al. 2003 Over the last three decades, the epidemiology of VL has changed drastically in many regions of Brazil, from a typical rural disease to an urban problem (Brazil et al. 2012 The causative agent of VL, Leishmania infantum (Leishmania chagasi ), is transmitted between dogs and humans by blood‐feeding female sand flies. Phlebotomine sand flies are significant vectors that transmit several human and animal pathogens in warm, semi‐arid, and arid tropical environments around the world and are considered the biological vectors of human leishmaniases (Wasserberg et al. 2014 Lutzomyia longipalpis (Diptera: Psychodidae) is the major vector of L. infantum and thus plays a crucial role in the epidemiology of American visceral leishmaniasis (AVL). This vector is the best studied species of sand flies in the Neotropical region. Many studies claim that L. infantum is, in fact, a species complex, but there is still no consensus regarding the number of species that belong in this complex or in the geographical distribution of sibling species (Santos et al. 2013 Although L. longipalpis have been considered the main vector of L. infantum in the Americas (Lainson and Rangel 2005), in some regions of Brazil, like Mato Grosso State, L. cruzi and L. forattinii have also been considered important vectors (Pita‐Pereira et al. 2008