Detection of Leishmania tarentolae DNA in Sergentomyia antennata in Togo

According to the World Health Organization, cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is endemic in all the west African countries except Sierra Leone, Liberia, Benin and Togo1. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is considered endemic in Senegal, Mauritania, Niger and Côte d Ivoire and cases were previously reported in Nigeria. Togo is considered as a country free of leishmaniasis despite the report of a single case of VL in Lama-Kara (northern region)2. Consequently, the fauna of Phlebotomine sandflies of Togo including 17 species remains poorly documented in this country3 5. In the present study, we caught Phlebotomine sandflies and did a Leishmania DNA screening on the females. © 2021 Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications. All rights reserved.