Brazil: American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) is a re-emerging disease in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, according to a GIS-based study.
A database containing 910 individual records of sand fly occurrence in the state of Sao Paulo, from 37 different sources, was compiled. These records, dating between 1943 to 2009, describe the presence of at least one of the six incriminated or suspected sand fly vector species in 183/645 (28.4%) municipalities.
For the remaining 462 (71.6%) municipalities, scientists were unable to locate records of any of the six incriminated or suspected sand fly vector species (Nyssomyia intermedia, N. neivai, N. whitmani, Pintomyia fischeri, P. pessoai and Migonemyia migonei).
The distribution of each of the six incriminated or suspected vector species of ACL in the state of Sao Paulo was individually mapped and overlaid on the incidence of ACL for the period 1993 to 1995 and 1998 to 2007. Overall, the maps reveal that the six sand fly vector species analysed have unique and heterogeneous, although often overlapping, distributions.
Several sand fly species – Nyssomyia intermedia and N. neivai – are highly localised, while the other sand fly species – N. whitmani, M. migonei, P. fischeri and P. pessoai – are much more broadly distributed.
ACL has been reported in 160/183 (87.4%) of the municipalities with records for at least one of the six incriminated or suspected sand fly vector species, while there are no records of any of these sand fly species in 318/478 (66.5%) municipalities with ACL.
Source: 7thSpace
