Figures
Female phlebotomine sandfly (Phlebotomus mascittii) during blood meal on human skin.
Phlebotomine sandflies can act as vectors for Leishmania spp., causing the different forms of human and canine leishmaniasis. However, the vector competence of Phlebotomus mascittii for Leishmania infantum was strongly suspected, but not proven under laboratory conditions until now. Recent sandfly records and autochthonous cases of leishmaniasis in Central Europe hint at spreading tendencies of these vectors to regions where they have not occurred so far. In a study published in this issue, the responses of five Phlebotomus spp. to future climate change are determined by combining climatic projections with species-specific dispersal ability (see Fischer et al., doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0001407).
Image Credit: Torsten J. Naucke (University of Hohenheim)
Citation: (2011) PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases Issue Image | Vol. 5(11) November 2011. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 5(11): ev05.i11. https://doi.org/10.1371/image.pntd.v05.i11
Published: November 29, 2011
Copyright: © 2011 Fischer. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Phlebotomine sandflies can act as vectors for Leishmania spp., causing the different forms of human and canine leishmaniasis. However, the vector competence of Phlebotomus mascittii for Leishmania infantum was strongly suspected, but not proven under laboratory conditions until now. Recent sandfly records and autochthonous cases of leishmaniasis in Central Europe hint at spreading tendencies of these vectors to regions where they have not occurred so far. In a study published in this issue, the responses of five Phlebotomus spp. to future climate change are determined by combining climatic projections with species-specific dispersal ability (see Fischer et al., doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0001407).
Image Credit: Torsten J. Naucke (University of Hohenheim)