Sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) in eight Balkan countries: historical review and region-wide entomological survey.

Background: Sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) are medically important vectors of human and veterinary disease-causing agents. Among these, the genus Leishmania (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae), and phleboviruses are of utmost importance. Despite such significance, updated information about sand fly fauna is missing for Balkan countries where both sand flies and autochtonous leishmaniases are historically present and recently re-emerging.

Direct evidence for an expanded circulation area of the recently identified Balkan virus (Sandfly fever Naples virus species) in several countries of the Balkan archipelago.

Background: Recently, Balkan virus (BALKV, family Phenuiviridae, genus Phlebovirus) was discovered in sand flies collected in Albania and genetically characterised as a member of the Sandfly fever Naples species complex. To gain knowledge concerning the geographical area where exposure to BALKV exists, entomological surveys were conducted in 2014 and 2015, in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH), Kosovo, Republic of Macedonia and Serbia.

Results: A total of 2830 sand flies were trapped during 2014 and 2015 campaigns, and organised as 263 pools.