TY - JOUR JF - sjimu JO - J. Ilam Uni. Med. Sci. VL - 17 IS - 2 PY - 2009 Y1 - 2009/7/01 TI - A Study of Sand-flies Fauna in The Focus of Visceral Leishmaniasis in Ahar District (Eastern Azarbayjan, Iran) TT - بررسی فون پشه های خاکی در کانون لیشمانیوز احشایی شهرستان اهر،استان آذربایجان شرقی N2 - Introduction: Visceral leishmaniasis (kala-azar) is endemic in Iranian provinces of Fars, East Azarbyjan , and Ardebil . Ahar, a district of East Azarbyjan, is another endemic foci of this disease thus, considering the fact that fulfilling a faunestic study of sand-flies is regarded be the first step to identify the vector species of such a disease, we decided to carry out our research in the mentioned area. Matrials & Methods: The researchers collected sand-flies using sticky trap in six villages of Iranian Province of Eastern Azarbayjan infected with visceral leishmaniasis during May, June, and July 2002. The trapped sand-flies were then washed using Aceton and preserved in 70% Eithelic Alcohol. All the samples were, afterward, categorized into specific species using reliable keys. Findings: Of all the 1405 collected sand-flies, 19 species were identified as follows: 16 species of phlebotomus, and 3 species of sergentomyia. The species p.kandelakii, p. paptasi , p. perfiliewi , p. sergenti, p.anderjevi with atotal number of 1171 ones covered 83% of the total number of trapped sand-flies .The species of P.caucasicus P.alexandri, P.mongolensis , P.halpensis , P.jacusieli , P. longiductus , P.balcanicus , P.major P. tobbi, P. ansarii , P. bergeroti , S.dentata , S.sintoni , S.pawlowskyi covered totally 234 ones equal to 17% of all the collected sand-flies. Discussion & Conclusion: It is concluded that, considering the much limited coverage of the searched area, the species variety seems to be very interesting and attention-worthy. It also indicates that more species and even new species can be found by carrying out more comprehensive studies in future. The P. anderjevi specie with frequency of 11%, being reported for the first time, showed the highest prevalence in west northern Iran. SP - 50 EP - 54 AD - KW - fauna KW - Sand-flies KW - visceral leishmaniasis KW - Ahar (Eastern Iran) UR - http://sjimu.medilam.ac.ir/article-1-131-en.html ER -