Molecular Detection of Leishmania (L.) mexicana (Kinetoplastida: Trypanostomatidae) DNA in Culicoides furens (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from an Area with Autochthonous Canine Leishmaniasis in Northwestern Mexico.

Purpose: Mexico is considered endemic for Leishmania; recent reports indicate autochthonous human and canine leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania mexicana in Sinaloa state. Lutzomyia sand fly are the primary vector of the parasite, although no records of phlebotomine vectors of Leishmania exist from Sinaloa. Other hematophagous dipterans, like Culicoides, could represent possible vectors of Leishmania in absence of phlebotomines.

First report of autochthonous canine leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania (L.) mexicana in Sinaloa, Mexico.

Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by different species of protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania. Dogs have been proven as primary hosts of the parasite. Cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis in humans caused by Leishmania mexicana have been reported in Sinaloa; however, the vectors and hosts involved in the epidemiology of the parasite in northwestern Mexico are still unknown.

First Evidence of Vertical Infection of Dengue Virus 2 in Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes from Sinaloa, Mexico.

Fourteen pools of Aedes aegypti larvae collected within the urban area of Culiacán, Sinaloa, were analyzed by RT-PCR. The results demonstrate, for the first time, the vertical infection of serotype-2 dengue virus (DENV-2) in Sinaloa, Mexico, suggesting that Ae. aegypti acts as a natural reservoir of DENV-2 in this region.