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Zoonotic Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (ZCL) is one of the endemic diseases in central part of Iran. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to find the areas with a higher risk of infection considering the distribution of vector, reservoir hosts and human infection. Passive data recorded the positive cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Yazd province health center were collected for 10 years, from 2007 to 2016 at the County level. Considering all earlier studies conducted in Yazd province, records of Phlebotomus papatasi , the main vector of ZCL, and Rhombomys opimus , the main reservoir of ZCL, were collected and entered in a database. ArcGIS and MaxEnt model were used to map and predict the best ecological niches for both vector and reservoir. The most cumulative incidence of the disease was found to be in Khatam County, south of Yazd province. The area under curve (AUC) for R. opimus and P. papatasi was 0.955 and 0.914, respectively. We found higher presence probability of both vector and reservoir in central and eastern parts of the province. The jackknife test indicated that temperature and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) had the most effect on the model for the vector and reservoir, respectively. The areas with higher presence probability for the reservoirs and vectors were considered having the higher potential for ZCL transmission. These findings can be used to prevent and control the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is the most important vector-borne disease in Iran. Qom Province is a very important area in the case of CL transmission, because of high traffic population from other parts of the country, or even other countries, as well as existence of confirmed foci of the disease. The aim of this study was to determine the ecology of sand flies in two different climates of this province and model the distribution of the main vector. Sand flies were collected monthly during April 2013–April 2014, at 22 urban/rural collection sites. Site selection was constrained by the geographical distribution of CL cases in recent years. Shannon–Weiner and Evenness indices were used to compare diversity in two studied climates. ArcGIS and MaxEnt were used to map and predict the appropriate ecological niches for sand flies. Totally, 5389 sand flies were collected and 12 species were identified. The most abundant species were Sergentomyia sintoni, P. papatasi , P. sergenti s.l. and Phlebotomus alexandri . Two peaks of activity were found in May and August in lowlands; while in mountainous areas they were observed in June and September. Species diversity in mountainous areas was found to be higher than in lowlands. The environmental variable with the highest gain in MaxEnt model was the monthly mean of (max temp–min temp). A big part of the lowland areas provides good ecological niches for P. papatasi and therefore higher transmission potential. These findings can be used in stratification of potential for CL transmission in Qom province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zoonotic Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (ZCL) is still a serious health problem in Iran. The objective of the study was to determine the differences in sand fly biodiversity in Shush (plain) and Khorramshahr (littoral) Counties, Khuzestan Province, southwest Iran. Sand flies were collected using sticky paper traps from urban, semi urban, agricultural and natural ecotypes. Alpha and beta diversity were calculated using Shannon–Weiner index and Jaccard's and Sorensen's coefficients, respectively. Synanthropic index was determined for the first time for Phlebotomus papatasi and Phlebotomus alexandri in different land use categories in Iran. Totally 11213 specimens, 68.47% in Shush and 31.53% in Khorramshahr, were collected. Eleven species of sand flies including, 2 of genus Phlebotomus and 9 of genus Sergentomyia were identified . Sergentomyia christophersi was found as a new record. Dominant species were P. papatasi and Sergentomyia sintoni . Shannon–Weiner index, richness and evenness in semi urban area of Shush County were more than other habitats. The analysis of α biodiversity showed that agricultural ecosystem of Khorramshahr County had the highest diversity due to maximal richness and diversity and also relatively high evenness. Comparison of similarity of the sand flies population composition between Shush and Khorramshahr indicated the maximum similarity between the urban area of Shush and the semi urban area of Khorramshahr ( S j = 75% and S s = 86%). Synanthropic index of P. papatasi and P. alexandri were calculated to be −83.34 and −91.18, respectively in Shush County. Estimated synanthropic indices for P. papatasi and P. alexandri in three habitats (natural, semi urban and urban) of Khorramshahr County were −69.84 and −85.89, in the same order. The factors for having high diversity of sand flies in the plain area studied may be due to higher annual precipitation, the related land use and land cover. The changes on the composition of sand flies are perhaps due to human intervention in their natural habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]