Flebótomos de la Serra dos Carajás (Estado de Pará, Brasil) y su posible implicación en la transmisión de la leishmaniasis cutánea americana

Serra dos Carajas, located in the southeast of Para State, Brazil, is a rich tropical forest where species of Leishmania sp. of medical interest are found, such as Leishmania (V.) braziliensis, L. (V.) lainsoni, L. (V.) shawi and L. (L.) amazonensis. They are transmitted by the following phlebotomi: Psychodopygus complexus or Ps. wellcomei, Lutzomyia ubiquitalis, Lu. whitmani and Lu. flaviscutellata. Considering the increase of immigrants in the region of the Carajas project, this study aimed to assess the Phlebotominae fauna and their possible participation in the transmission of American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL). The phlebotomi were captured from December 2005 to September 2007 at the following locations: i) Parauapebas Botanical Park; ii) an environmental protection area; and iii) Tapirape-Aquiri National Forest. During the 172 days of collection, 10 CDC (18 h to 6 h) and 2 Shannon (18 h to 20 h) light traps were used. Of the 22,095 phlebotomi captured, 6,789 (31%) were male and 15,306 (69%) were female, and they belonged to 69 species and three genera, including Psychodopygus, Lutzomyia and Brumptomyia. A total of 19 (0.16%) natural infections of the following species were detected: Ps. davisi (4), Ps. h. hirsutus (3), Lu. umbratilis (3), Lu. richardward (2), Lu. brachipyga (2), Lu. ubiquitalis (2), Lu. trinidadensis (1) and Lu. migonei (1). Although no infection was found in Ps. wellcomei/complexus, the main vector of L. (V.) braziliensis in the region, this species was the most prevalent (16%), followed by Ps. davisi (15.4%), Ps. carrerai (4.2%), Lu. shawi (3.9%), Lu. brachipyga (2.5%) and Lu. richardward (1.2%). These results show the importance of these phlebotomi as possible vectors of ACL in Serra dos Carajas.