Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease of animals and humans caused by
several Leishmania species and transmitted by phlebotomine sandflies.
The aim of the present study was to identify the species of field
collected phlebotomine sandflies in the endemic area of the Attiki
during 4 consecutive years, to isolate the Leishmania parasites from the
infected sandflies, and identify possible factors associated with
sandfly abundance in the area. A total of 542 trappings were made in 46
collection sites, in purely urban areas, periurban areas, and purely
rural areas in Attiki. Out of the 3254 sandflies trapped, 1448 (44.43%)
were female and 241 (16.64%) of the females were blood fed while
Leishmania infantum DNA was detected in the 0.41% of them. Regarding
sandfly species, the most prevalent was Phlebotomus tobbi (41.52%)
followed by Sergentomyia minuta (27.44%), P. neglectus (14.83%), P.
simici (11.08%), P. papatasi (3.68%), P. similis (0.89%), and P.
alexandri (0.56%). Periurban areas were found to have the highest
density of sandfly populations
