[Leish-l] Leishmaniasis - Argentina: epidemic potential

BobKillick-Kendrick killickendrick at wanadoo.fr
Wed Mar 25 04:00:32 BRT 2009


The Americans use sand fly. The convention is that two words indicate a dipteran - eg. sand fly, tsetse fly, horse fly, stable fly etc, - whereas one word indicates a non-dipteran - eg. mayfly, damselfly, hoverfly etc. It seems sensible to me and I follow it. [This is opposed by Chris Schofield. But he works on reduvidbugs (conenosebugs)!]
Bob Killick-Kendrick
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Carlos Costa 
  To: Chang, Kwang-Poo 
  Cc: fred opperdoes ; Leish-l at lineu.icb.usp.br 
  Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 8:46 PM
  Subject: Re: [Leish-l] Leishmaniasis - Argentina: epidemic potential


  To: all

  By the way, what is the right English writing: sand fly or sandfly? Is it a matter of England vs. US?

  Carlos H.


  2009/3/21 Chang, Kwang-Poo <KwangPoo.Chang at rosalindfranklin.edu>

    To: Prof. Laila Nimri and all



    The issue appears to be a language translation problem. I was told that all blood sucking flies are referred to as “mosquito” in Spanish.



    KP




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    From: leish-l-bounces at lineu.icb.usp.br [mailto:leish-l-bounces at lineu.icb.usp.br] On Behalf Of Laila Nimri
    Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2009 1:53 AM
    To: fred opperdoes; Leish-l at lineu.icb.usp.br
    Subject: Re: [Leish-l] Leishmaniasis - Argentina: epidemic potential



    Just to correct a very important information about the vector of Visceral leishmaniasis, it is definitely not a mosquito, it is a sand fly of the genus Lutzomyia as mentioned correctly below or a Phlebotomus. The environmental or climatic changes that affect mosquitoes might have affected the sand flies and lead to the emergence of the disease.



    Prof. Laila Nimri


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    From: leish-l-bounces at lineu.icb.usp.br [leish-l-bounces at lineu.icb.usp.br] On Behalf Of fred opperdoes [fred.opperdoes at uclouvain.be]
    Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2009 8:21 AM
    To: Leish-l at lineu.icb.usp.br
    Subject: [Leish-l] Leishmaniasis - Argentina: epidemic potential

      Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2009 21:23:15 -0500 (EST)
      From: ProMED-mail <promed at promed.isid.harvard.edu>
      Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Leishmaniasis - Argentina: epidemic potential

      LEISHMANIASIS - ARGENTINA: EPIDEMIC POTENTIAL
      ***********************************************
      A ProMED-mail post
      <http://www.promedmail.org>
      ProMED-mail is a program of the
      International Society for Infectious Diseases
      <http://www.isid.org>

      Date: Tue 24 Feb 2009
      Source: Datachaco.com [trans. Mod JGM, edited]
      <http://datachaco.com/noticia.php?numero=17399>


      The occurrence of cases of yellow fever made people pay attention to 
      mosquito-borne diseases, and dengue fever, which is currently 
      attacking with unusual strength in Paraguay, set another alarm in 
      Chaco, Corrientes, and Misiones provinces, which share borders with 
      Paraguay and Bolivia.

      However, a new emerging disease has become the main epidemic threat 
      in Argentina: Visceral leishmaniasis. This little known disease is 
      being analyzed now as a cause for a sanitary red alert in Argentina.

      Visceral leishmaniasis is also caused by a mosquito-borne parasite. 
      There is no vaccine for this disease, and therapy is instituted only 
      once a case is clearly defined. Its mortality rate is around 8 per 
      cent, and it has a particular feature: Dogs may act as reservoirs for 
      the parasite.

      A summary of the life cycle of the parasite indicates that 
      _Lutzomyia_ insects infect dogs. These animals develop the disease 
      and transmit the parasite to another insect vector, which now is 
      capable of transmitting visceral leishmaniasis to humans. There is no 
      human-to-human transmission.

      Since the very 1st case was reported in 2006, 36 persons have been 
      affected, and there are 4 deceased patients. The possibility of a 
      rapid increase in the number of cases is a reason for concern.

      Last week 2 cases of visceral leishmaniasis were reported in Posadas. 
      One is an 18-year-old woman, and the other is a 21-year-old man, who 
      separately developed the symptoms of the disease. Some personnel from 
      the army are currently collaborating with municipal authorities in 
      Posadas for cleaning wastelands, which are considered breeding places 
      for insect vectors.

      This health problem has become quite dangerous and important in the 
      main cities in Misiones province, and specialists warn that the 
      disease may reach other provinces in the short term.

      "We are observing that the vector is spreading fast, and 2 corridors 
      have been established, one directing towards Resistencia and the 
      other one towards Corrientes. Also, the northern area of Entre Rios, 
      as well as Santa Fe, and Cordoba are vulnerable places. The mosquito 
      vector for visceral leishmaniasis has become an urban-living insect, 
      so there is a substantial risk for its presence in big urban 
      centers," explained Dr. Daniel Salomon, from the National Center for 
      Epidemics in Argentina's Ministry of Health.

      "It is quite difficult to implement preventive measures, because 
      people are so in love with their pets," commented Dr. Salomon. There 
      are very few options for controlling the spread of the disease apart 
      from sacrificing sick animals.

      In 2004, the 1st dog infected with the causative agent of visceral 
      leishmaniasis was detected. When 40 cases were reported in Misiones 
      province, the Ministry of Health issued a red alert. Nonetheless, the 
      current situation is much worse. In Posadas, it was determined that 
      7000 dogs actually have the parasite. Additionally, there are 300 
      infected dogs in Corrientes, and it is worth mentioning that in its 
      capital city, there are thousands of homeless dogs considered to be 
      infected with the parasite.

      The analysis of the experience from Brazil and Paraguay indicates 
      that there is a probability of having one person infected for every 
      60 infected dogs. There is a high risk for an epidemic.

      Sanitary authorities recommend that pets must not be carried to the 
      areas considered to be at risk. It is also advisable not to transport 
      dogs from the affected regions to other areas in the country. The 
      idea is to cut the transmission cycle of the parasite. Those persons 
      who may visit the northern part of Argentina must be immunized 
      against yellow fever as an ordinary preventive measure, and they must 
      leave their pets at home as an additional preventive measure.

      "Visceral leishmaniasis was present in the northern part of South 
      America until migrating workers started moving it towards the south. 
      In early 2000, there were some important outbreaks in Campo Grande do 
      Sul and in Asuncion, where the average number of persons infected is 
      around 70 per year. In Brazil there are around 4000 cases and 200 
      deaths per year," pointed out Dr. Salomon, who had been doing some 
      field work during the past few weeks in the Litoral provinces.

      He also added: "There is a trend for an increase in visceral 
      leishmaniasis, so the disease may spread, and it is expected to have 
      more cases."

      Climate changes and deforesting seem to be the main explanations for 
      the migration of mosquito-borne diseases. However, trying to justify 
      the occurrence of emergent diseases only because of reasons inherent 
      to nature itself may exonerate provincial and municipal authorities 
      for not complying with their obligations with respect to the 
      implementation of disease control programs and cleaning empty lots.

      Consequently, now there are many public accusations between Misiones, 
      Corrientes, and Chaco health officers. These persons, now that there 
      are cases of visceral leishmaniasis, immediately try to explain that 
      transmission may have taken place outside their respective 
      jurisdictions. The clear point is that the mosquito vector appears 
      because of lack of public hygiene.

      - --
      Communicated by:
      ProMED-mail <promed at promedmail.org>

      [Leishmaniasis has been slowly spreading in northern Argentina over 
      the past decades (Salomon O et al. First visceral leishmaniasis focus 
      in Argentina. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 2008;103:109-11
      <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18368242?ordinalpos=9&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum>).

      The ecology of the vector has been changing, and increasing 
      urbanization has been suggested as one of the explanations (Salomon 
      OD et al. Phlebotominae (Diptera: Psycodidae) fauna in the Chaco 
      region and Cutaneous Leishmaniasis transmission patterns in 
      Argentina. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 2008;103:578-84
      <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18949328?ordinalpos=3&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum>).
       - Mod.EP]


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  -- 
  Dr. Carlos Henrique Nery Costa.
  Coordenador Executivo - Rede Nordeste de Biotecnologia
  Diretor Geral - Instituto de Doenças Tropicais Natan Portella
  Universidade Federal do Piauí
  Rua Artur de Vasconcelos 151-Sul
  64.001-450 Teresina-PI 
  Brasil
  Telefones: IDTNP:+55 86 3221-3413; 
  Celular: +55 86 9985-6132; Fax: +55 86 3222-3248



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