Leishmaniasis in Brazil. XIX: visceral leishmaniasis in the Amazon Region, and the presence of Lutzomyia longipalpis on the Island of Marajó, Pará State

Sporadic cases of visceral leishmaniasis in Amazonian Brazil appear limited to Pará State, in the lower Amazon valley and principally near the Atlantic coast. The fox Cerdocyon thous (L.) has been incriminated as a natural host of the causative parasite, Leishmania donovani chagasi, but past doubts have existed over the identification of the most likely vector as Lutzomyia (Lutzomyia) longipalpis (Lutz & Neiva, 1912). Investigations on two of five recent cases of visceral leishmaniasis of man in the Districts of Cachoeira do Arari and Salvaterra, on the eastern part of the Island of Marajó, Pará showed undoubted Lu. longipalpis to be abundant in one house and in numerous chicken-houses. This is the first record of Lu. longipalpis on Marajó Island, and the finding supports previous implication of this sandfly in the epidemiology of visceral leishmaniasis in other parts of Pará. Morphological differences have been noted between this insect from Marajó and other specimens from more highly endemic regions in the States of Ceará and Minas Gerais, Brazil.