LSTM Seminar ''Visceral leishmaniasis control in Brazil: pheromones and kairomones a new way forward?'', 2019

Seminar date: 22 May 2019 13:00 GMT

Location: Liverpool, UK (And live streamed)

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is predominantly a human and canine disease caused by infection with a Protist parasite (Leishmania infantum) transmitted by the bite of infected female sand flies (Lutzomyia longipalpis). Dogs act as the reservoir of infection for the human population. If untreated VL is fatal in humans, in dogs it is always fatal. Brazil has ca. 6000 VL attributed deaths per year but the impact because of morbidity is significant and growing, partially because of the spread of the vector into new areas and partially because of the failure of existing control methods. The Brazilian MoH uses a 3-strand approach to VL control; 1. Vector control, 2. Reservoir control and 3. Therapeutic drugs.

This seminar will describe work that we have been doing over the past 10 years on vector control including the results of a randomised control trial in Brazil to reduce leishmania transmission (pheromones) and some relatively recent work related to improving the outcomes of reservoir control (kairomones).

For more details click here.