Leishmaniasis is caused by infection with protozoan parasites within the genus
Leishmania and, in the New World, is transmitted by the bites of female sand flies
within the genus Lutzomyia. The occurrence of leishmaniasis in rodent species, the
geographic distribution of sand fly species in Nicaragua, and environmental factors
associated with the distribution of human cases of typical cutaneous leishmaniasis were
investigated. Three hundred ninety five rodents representing 17 species were collected
from 13 localities from August 2001–March 2006 and screened for Leishmania
infections. One Heteromys desmarestianus and one Peromyscus mexicanus were found
to be positive for leishmanial infections by PCR. This is the first report of Leishmania
infections in rodents in Nicaragua. Five hundred fifty six sand flies representing 12
species were collected from 8 localities, including Lutzomyia hartmanni, a new record
for this species in Nicaragua. The predominant sand fly species captured in western
Nicaragua were Lutzomyia longipalpis and Lutzomyia evansi. The predominant species
captured in central and eastern Nicaragua was Lutzomyia cruciata. The geographic distribution of sand flies in this study provides additional support to previouslypublished
reports of suspected vectors of Leishmania species that cause typical and
atypical forms of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Nicaragua.
Distribution data of human cases of typical cutaneous leishmaniasis obtained
from the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health, along with GIS and remotely sensed data of
elevation, precipitation, temperature, soil types and land use/cover classes, were used to
develop predictive logistic regression models for the presence or absence of human cases
within 151 municipalities. Mean annual precipitation and land use/cover were
determined to be the best environmental variable predictors for the occurrence of typical
cutaneous leishmaniasis.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-3089 |
| Date | 15 May 2009 |
| Creators | Raymond, Russell Wayne |
| Contributors | Dronen, Norman O. Jr. |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation, text |
| Format | electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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