Investigations on Mediterranean kala azar. XI A study of leishmaniasis in Canea (Crete)

Abstract

In previous communications (Adler and Theodor 1931, 1935) the following sandflies of the major group were recorded from Greece: Phlebotomus major , P. perniciosus var. tobbi, P. chinensis var. simici and P. perfiliewi (syn. P. macedonicus ). P. perfiliewi was at first suspected as the carrier of visceral leishmaniasis in Greece, for it was the only sandfly of the major group known from this country up to 1931, the other species not having been found to occur in the peninsula and islands till 1932. A rapid survey carried out during August 1932 in Athens and the vicinity of Argos indicated that the distribution of P. major in these parts corresponded closely to that of visceral leishmaniasis, and feeding experiments on infected dogs carried out in Catania and Sicily showed that this species is even more receptive for Leishmania infantum than is P. perniciosus (1932). It was thought advisable to make an intensive study of a single endemic focus in Greece in order to test the conclusions made on the basis of the preliminary survey and compare the role of the various local species of sandfly of the major group as vectors of visceral leishmaniasis.