Ecoepidemiological aspects of visceral leishmaniasis in an endemic area in the Steel Valley in Brazil: An ecological approach with spatial analysis.

ABSTRACT: Leishmaniases are a group of infectious diseases transmitted by phlebotomine sand flies, and their distribution depends on the presence of vectors, parasites, reservoirs and susceptible hosts in the same environment. In the last decades, visceral leishmaniasis (VL) has become urbanized and reached economically important cities in countries within the transmission zone. Our study was conducted in one of those cities-Ipatinga-in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, where the first autochthonous case of VL dates back to 2011. Since no data regarding the epidemiological triad of VL (etiological agent/vector/domestic reservoir) were available for this city, we characterized the local entomological fauna, identified the presence of specific Leishmania DNA in the captured phlebotomine sand flies, a

SUBMITTER: Lana RS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6207327 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature