AMERICAN VISCERAL LEISHMANIASIS: EVALUATION OF THE VECTORIAL CAPACITY PARAMETERS OF Lutzomyia longipalpis IN URBAN AREA IN THE SAO PAULO STATE, BRAZIL

Abstract

AbstractIntroduction. Leishmaniases are public health problems due to the severity of some of their forms and wide distribution in the country. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), caused by Leishmania infantum chagasi and transmitted by Lutzomyia longipalpis, entered the state of Sao Paulo for the northwest region and is expanding. Lu. longipalpis, an species with eclectic eating habits, is attracted to human and, especially, to domestic animals. The study of vectorial capacity, this defined as the number of potentially infective bites that a vector population will inflict on one single type of host while feeding on it, allows the development of control strategies by assessing the entomological and epidemiological parameters. Objective. To evaluate, under field and laboratorial conditions, parameters used to estimate the vectorial capacity of the population of Lu. longipalpis in an urban county in the northwest region of São Paulo state, considering the attractiveness of human, chicken and dog. Methods. The infective survival time of Lu. longipalpis females will be calculated by vertical (life table) and horizontal (capture-mark-release-recapture) estimations. The remaining parameters to be investigated will include: the attractiveness of man, dog and chicken to sand flies, experimental infection of sandfly females by L. i. chagasi after feeding on infected dogs, extrinsic incubation period of the parasite and the duration of the gonotrophic cycle. Expected results. To estimate the vectorial capacity of Lu. longipalpis in an urban environment and suggest control measures aimed at reducing the transmission of VL in São Paulo sate.