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Modification Of Sand Fly Biting Behavior By Leishmania Leads To Increased Parasite Transmission, Raymond Beach, Gabriel Kjilu, Johannis Leeuwenberg

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

To attempt rodent-sand fly-rodent transmission of Leishmania major, laboratory-reared Phlebotomus doboscqi were fed on L. major-infected mice and then refed on uninfected mice 21 days later. Flies which refed either probed 1–2 times and took a full blood meal in less than 10 minutes or probed 3 or more times and took little or no blood during a period of 15 minutes or more. When dissected, 7 of 8 flies which experienced difficulty in obtaining a blood meal had flagellates in their cibaria, an observation supporting the hypothesis that parasites in this part of the alimentary canal modify normal …