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

Lawyer, Phillip (NIH/NIAID) [E] PhillipL at niaid.nih.gov
Mon Sep 16 00:37:09 BRT 2013


Dear Carlos,



For what it's worth, I believe it most likely happened the other way around:  Leishmania donovani was probably introduced to East Africa from India during the late 1800s when laborers were brought from India to work in the Kenya building the railroad from Mombasa to Uganda and on other infrastructure projects.  Leishmania donovani in East Africa is manifest as kala azar and is anthroponotic, the same as in India.  The main vector in Kenya is Phlebotmus martini, which tends to breed in termite mounds, often associated with human dwellings.  Other Symphlebotomus species, Ph. vansomerenae and Ph. celiae have also been implicated in L. donovani transmission.



Regards,



Phil Lawyer

________________________________
From: Carlos Brisola Marcondes [cbrisolamarcondes at gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, August 30, 2013 8:41 AM
To: Leish-L; leish-l-bounces at lineu.icb.usp.br
Subject: [Leish-l] why is Leishmania donovani restricted to humans in Indian subcontinent?

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/


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