[Leish-l] why is Leishmania donovani restricted to humans in Indian subcontinent?

[Patrick Bastien]

Dear Carlos
You have a gift to launch matters which can lead to endless debates  
!... (smiley)
The dog can certainly not be taken as a major factor for this situation.
It is true that I do not know the feeding habits of argentipes, which  
might be a good explanation.
Yet, in my view, an adaptation of the parasite to man is the most  
likely explanation. It will take time to investigate this, because  
just a handful of genes may be responsible for that; and it may take  
many whole genome sequences to be able to identify the few  
polymorphisms which might lead to this adaptation.
Best wishes
Patrick Bastien

Pr Patrick Bastien
Director, Departement de Parasitologie-Mycologie
Centre National de Reference des Leishmanioses
Vice-Director, "MiVEGEC" unit research UMR5290 CNRS/224 IRD/UM1/UM2
Faculte de Medecine, Université Montpellier 1
39 Av. Charles Flahault
34295 Montpellier cedex 5


----- Message de cbrisolamarcondes at gmail.com ---------
     Date : Fri, 30 Aug 2013 09:41:48 -0300
      De : Carlos Brisola Marcondes <cbrisolamarcondes at gmail.com>
Répondre à : Carlos Brisola Marcondes <cbrisolamarcondes at gmail.com>
  Objet : [Leish-l] why is Leishmania donovani restricted to humans in  
Indian subcontinent?
       À : Leish-L <Leish-L at lineu.icb.usp.br>, leish-l-bounces at lineu.icb.usp.br


> Dear all,
> *Leishmania donovani* seems to have been introduced from East Africa to
> Indian subcontinent, where it has infected mostly humans, differently from
> East African foci.
>    Why does this occur? Is this caused by feeding preferences of *Phlebotomus
> argentipes*, which bites mostly ruminants and humans and is associated to
> houses? Or are dogs rarer in that region than in Brazil, where these
> animals are important reservoirs of *Leishmania infantum* and frequently
> bitten by *Lutzomyia longipalpis*?
>
> Sincerely yours
> prof. dr. Carlos Brisola Marcondes
> Dept. Microbiol. Imunol. Parasitol./CCB
> Federal University of Santa Catarina
> Florianópolis (SC)
> CV: http://buscatextual.cnpq.br/buscatextual/visualizacv.do?id=K4783901J2
> blog: http://entomomedica.blogspot.com.br/
>
> --
> This email was sent by icb.usp.br
>


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