Experimental Colonization of Sand Flies (; Diptera: Psychodidae) by .

is a recently described species endemic to Peru, where it causes verruga peruana in humans. While the arthropod vector of transmission is unknown, human coinfections with suggest that phlebotomine sand flies are a vector. To address the hypothesis that sand flies are involved in the bacterium's transmission, sand flies were used as an infection model, together with green fluorescent protein-expressing .

No Evidence of rVSV-Ebola Virus Vaccine Replication or Dissemination in the Sand Fly Phlebotomus papatasi.

Following vaccination with the live attenuated, recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus Indiana serotype Ebola virus (rVSV-EBOV) vaccine, persons may exhibit a transient vaccine-associated viremia. To investigate the potential for Old World sand flies to transmit this vaccine following feeding on a viremic person, we fed laboratory-reared Phlebotomus papatasi an artificial blood meal containing 7.2 log10 plaque-forming units of rVSV-EBOV.

Attraction and oviposition preferences of Phlebotomus papatasi (Diptera: Psychodidae), vector of Old-World cutaneous leishmaniasis, to larval rearing media.

Background: As part of a project aimed at developing oviposition attractants for the control and surveillance of Phlebotomus papatasi (a vector of Old-World cutaneous leishmaniasis), we tested the hypothesis that gravid sand flies are attracted to chemical cues emanating from the growth medium of conspecific larvae - predominantly larvae-conditioned host feces that represents a suitable oviposition site. We report the results of a systematic assessment of media from various developmental stages of the sand fly using oviposition and olfactometer behavioral assays.

Methods: We conducted multiple-choice oviposition assays in 500 mL Nalgene jars.

A sand fly salivary protein vaccine shows efficacy against vector-transmitted cutaneous leishmaniasis in nonhuman primates.

Currently, there are no commercially available human vaccines against leishmaniasis. In rodents, cellular immunity to salivary proteins of sand fly vectors is associated to protection against leishmaniasis, making them worthy targets for further exploration as vaccines. We demonstrate that nonhuman primates (NHP) exposed to Phlebotomus duboscqi uninfected sand fly bites or immunized with salivary protein PdSP15 are protected against cutaneous leishmaniasis initiated by infected bites.