Blood-feeding arthropods are involved in the transmission of several pathogens that have a major impact on public health. Entomological investigations highlighted the composition, abundance, and diversity of flying hematophagous arthropods at four dog shelters located in central Morocco during an eight-month study, with the aim of discussing their vectorial roles and assessing the risk of these shelters as foci for zoonotic diseases. Monitoring of the arthropod fauna for 64 catch nights resulted in the collection of 2,321 biting midges (Ceratopogonidae), 570 mosquitoes (Culicidae), and 475 sand flies (Psychodidae).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: , the proven vector of , the causative agent of anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis, is widely distributed in Morocco. Previous works using molecular markers (Internal Transcribed Spacer 2 rDNA and Cytochrome B mtDNA) hypothesized the existence of multiple closely related populations of sand fly species (cryptic species) that would exhibit distinct vectorial capacities. This work studies morphotypic diversity using traditional and geometric morphometry analyses carried out on 's wings from central Morocco, where active transmission occurs for 30 years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParasite Epidemiol Control
February 2019
Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) due to is a major health problem in Tadla-Azilal focus, Morocco, where the first case was registered, here, in one locality named Tanant in 1987. So far, CL remains endemic and largely widespread. The objective of this study was to analyze the current eco-epidemiological situation after thirty years of active transmission.
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