A new mtDNA COI gene lineage closely related to Anopheles janconnae of the Albitarsis complex in the Caribbean region of Colombia

An understanding of the taxonomic status and vector distribution of anophelines is crucial in controlling malaria. Previous phylogenetic analyses have supported the description of six species of the Neotropical malaria vector Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) albitarsis s.l. (Diptera: Culicidae): An. albitarsis, Anopheles deaneorum, Anopheles marajoara, Anopheles oryzalimnetes, Anopheles janconnae and An. albitarsis F. To evaluate the taxonomic status of An. albitarsis s.l. mosquitoes collected in various localities in the Colombian Caribbean region, specimens were analyzed using the complete mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene, the ribosomal DNA (rDNA) internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) region and partial nuclear DNA white gene sequences. Phylogenetic analyses of the COI gene sequences detected a new lineage closely related to An. janconnae in the Caribbean region of Colombia and determined its position relative to the other members of the complex. However, the ITS2 and white gene sequences lacked sufficient resolution to support a new lineage closely related to An. janconnae or the An. janconnae clade. The possible involvement of this new lineage in malaria transmission in Colombia remains unknown, but its phylogenetic closeness to An. janconnae, which has been implicated in local malaria transmission in Brazil, is intriguing.

Seroprevalencia de marcadores de infecciones transmisibles por vía transfusional en banco de sangre de Colombia

OBJETIVO: Determinar la seroprevalencia de marcadores de infecciones transmisibles por vía transfusional. MÉTODOS: Estudio transversal con fuente de información secundaria, basada en los resultados de pruebas biológicas en los donantes de un banco de sangre de Medellín, Colombia, de 2007 a 2010. Se determinó la seroprevalencia de los marcadores de infección y se compararon según sexo y tipo de donante a través de análisis de frecuencias, chi cuadrado, Fisher y razones de prevalencia. RESULTADOS: La población de base estuvo conformada por 65.535 donantes de los cuales, 3,3% presentaran al menos una prueba biológica positiva. El marcador más prevalente en las pruebas del banco de sangre fue sífilis (1,2%), seguido de tripanosomiasis (1,0%), virus de la hepatitis C (VHC) (0,6%), virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana (VIH) (0,5%) y virus de la hepatitis B (VHB) (0,2%). Con base en el laboratorio de referencia se halló una prevalencia de 0,6% para sífilis, 0,1% para VHB y 0% para VHC, VIH y Chagas. Se hallaron diferencias estadísticas en la prevalencia de VHB y sífilis según sexo y tipo de donante. CONCLUSIONES: Los resultados son coherentes con las prevalencias dadas por la Organización Panamericana de la Salud (OPS) y se pueden correlacionar con la prevalencia mundial de las infecciones transmisibles por via transfusional. Los resultados hallados en las pruebas del banco de sangre posibilitan la disminución del riesgo transfusional pero limitan la optimización de recursos al excluir donantes clasificados como falsos positivos.

Breeding sites of Culicoides pachymerus Lutz in the Magdalena River basin, Colombia

The breeding sites of Culicoides pachymerus are described for the first time in western Boyacá Province, Colombia, where this species is a public health problem. In addition to being a nuisance due to its enormous density and its high biting rates, C. pachymerus cause dermatological problems in the human population. Analysis of microhabitats by the sugar flotation technique and the use of emergence traps allowed us to recover 155 larvae of Culicoides spp and 65 adults of C. pachymerus from peridomiciliary muddy substrates formed by springs of water and constant rainwater accumulation. These important findings could aid in the design of integrated control meas-ures against this pest.

Description of Lutzomyia velezi, a new species of phlebotomine sand fly (Diptera: Psychodidae) from the Department of Antioquia, Colombia

The phlebotomine sand fly Lutzomyia velezi sp.nov. was described and illustrated from male specimens collected by light trap in the Reserva Natural Cañon del Río Claro in the Central Cordillera of the Colombian Andes. The new species belongs to the series sanguinaria of the subgenus Helcocyrtomyia, which is represented in Colombia by Lutzomyia cirrita, Lutzomyia hartmanni, Lutzomyia sanguinaria, Lutzomyia scorzai, Lutzomyia sp. of Pichindé and Lutzomyia tortura. The new species can be differentiated from others of the subgenus by the combination of the following characteristics: long antennal ascoids, reaching level of the papilla, coxite with a single basal seta and fifth palpomere longer than or equal to the sum of the lengths of the third and fourth palpomeres.

Description of Culicoides lisicarruni (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), a new species from Cundinamarca, Colombia

A new species of Culicoides of the subgenus Diphaomyia Vargas from high altitudes of the Andes in Colombia is described and photographied. The species is compared with its similar congener Culicoides marinkellei Wirth & Lee. Data on the collecting site and notes on the species daily activity are also provided.

Confirmation of Anopheles (Anopheles) calderoni Wilkerson, 1991 (Diptera: Culicidae) in Colombia and Ecuador through molecular and morphological correlation with topotypic material

The morphologically similar taxa Anopheles calderoni, Anopheles punctimacula, Anopheles malefactor and Anopheles guarao are commonly misidentified. Isofamilies collected in Valle de Cauca, Colombia, showed morphological characters most similar to An. calderoni, a species which has never previously been reported in Colombia. Although discontinuity of the postsubcostal pale spots on the costa (C) and first radial (R1) wing veins is purportedly diagnostic for An. calderoni, the degree of overlap of the distal postsubcostal spot on C and R1 were variable in Colombian specimens (0.003-0.024). In addition, in 98.2% of larvae, seta 1-X was located off the saddle and seta 3-C had 4-7 branches in 86.7% of specimens examined. Correlation of DNA sequences of the second internal transcribed spacer and mtDNA cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene (COI) barcodes (658 bp of the COI gene) generated from Colombian progeny material and wild-caught mosquitoes from Ecuador with those from the Peruvian type series of An. calderoni confirmed new country records. DNA barcodes generated for the closely related taxa, An. malefactor and An. punctimacula are also presented for the first time. Examination of museum specimens at the University of the Valle, Colombia, revealed the presence of An. calderoni in inland localities across Colombia and at elevations up to 1113 m.

First published record of urban malaria in Puerto Gaitan, Meta, Colombia

Patterns of malaria cases were compared between the department of Meta and the municipality of Puerto Gaitán, Colombia, to examine temporal change in malaria from 2005-2010. During this time frame in Meta the mean ratio was 2.53; in contrast, in Puerto Gaitán it was 1.41, meaning that a surprisingly high proportion of Plasmodium falciparum cases were reported from this municipality. A detailed analysis of data from Puerto Gaitán for 2009 and 2010 detected a significant difference (χ2, p < 0.001) in the distribution of plasmodia, with Plasmodium vivax more prevalent in 2009 and P. falciparum in 2010. Males had the highest number of cases but there was no difference in the distribution of cases between sexes and years. In both years, for both sexes, people 16-40 accounted for the majority of cases (58.9% in 2009; 60.4% in 2010). There were significant differences in the distribution of both P. vivax (χ2, p < 0.01) and P. falciparum cases (χ2, p < 0.05) by geographic setting (urban vs. non-urban) between years. Urban cases of both P. vivax and P. falciparum are recorded in this study for the first time in Puerto Gaitán, possibly the result of area wide displacement and migration due to armed conflict.

Malaria in gold-mining areas in Colombia

Gold-mining may play an important role in the maintenance of malaria worldwide. Gold-mining, mostly illegal, has significantly expanded in Colombia during the last decade in areas with limited health care and disease prevention. We report a descriptive study that was carried out to determine the malaria prevalence in gold-mining areas of Colombia, using data from the public health surveillance system (National Health Institute) during the period 2010-2013. Gold-mining was more prevalent in the departments of Antioquia, Córdoba, Bolívar, Chocó, Nariño, Cauca, and Valle, which contributed 89.3% (270,753 cases) of the national malaria incidence from 2010-2013 and 31.6% of malaria cases were from mining areas. Mining regions, such as El Bagre, Zaragoza, and Segovia, in Antioquia, Puerto Libertador and Montelíbano, in Córdoba, and Buenaventura, in Valle del Cauca, were the most endemic areas. The annual parasite index (API) correlated with gold production (R2 0.82, p < 0.0001); for every 100 kg of gold produced, the API increased by 0.54 cases per 1,000 inhabitants. Lack of malaria control activities, together with high migration and proliferation of mosquito breeding sites, contribute to malaria in gold-mining regions. Specific control activities must be introduced to control this significant source of malaria in Colombia.

Una nueva especie de Trichomyia Haliday (Diptera, Psychodidae) de Los Montes de María, Colombia

Una nueva especie de Trichomyia Haliday (Diptera, Psychodidae) de Los Montes de María, Colombia. Trichomyia colosensis n. sp. es descrita e ilustrada a partir de ejemplares machos recolectados con una trampa modificada CDC en la Reserva Forestal Protectora Serranía de Coraza y Montes de María, sobre la Costa Caribe Colombiana. Hasta la fecha están registradas dos especies de Trichomyia en el Caribe colombiano, T. brevitarsa (Rapp, 1945) y T. colosensis n. sp.

Copitarsia uncilata Burgos & Leiva sp. nov. de Cuculliinae para Colombia y México (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae)

Se describe e ilustran los adultos y genitalia de macho y hembra de Copitarsia uncilata Burgos & Leiva sp. nov., que se distribuye en Colombia y México. La nueva especie se caracteriza por poseer un uncus ancho apicalmente espatulado con una diminuta proyección dorsal bulbosa, digitus de corte apical ampliamente cóncavo y una ampulla con ápice recurvado que sobresale de la valva, externamente es similar a Copitarsia decolora (Guenée).

Synanthropy and ecological aspects of Muscidae (Diptera) in a tropical dry forest ecosystem in Colombia

The synanthropic index and other ecological aspects of the Muscidae family were evaluated through simultaneous monthly sampling in three different environments (urban, rural and forest) using van Someren-Rydon traps baited with human faeces, chicken viscera and decomposing fish and onion. Four traps were set up in each environment (one per bait item) for 48 hours per month, with samples taken every 12 hours. A total of 5726 specimens were collected, belonging to 19 species and 13 genera. Brontaea normata (+99,9), Brontaea quadristigma (+96,9), Synthesiomyia nudiseta (+96,5), Ophyra aenescens (+96,2), Musca domestica (+95,7) and Atherigona orientalis (+93,8) had the highest synanthropic indices, showing a marked preference for human environments. The most abundant species were B. normata (24,31%), Biopyrellia bipuncta (20,60%) and Pseudoptilolepis nigripoda (15,82%), the latter two showed a preference for uninhabited areas. A total of 11 new records for Colombia were found: Ophyra aenescens, Cyrtoneuropsis pararescita, Morellia basalis, Neomuscina dorsipuncta, Biopyrellia bipuncta, Pseudoptilolepis nigripoda, Neomuscina instabilis, Neomuscina currani, Polietina orbitalis, Neomuscina pictipennis and Cyrtoneuropsis maculipennis. Except for the first four species, the remainder presented negative synantrophy indexes (from minor to major), which would allow to use them as ecological indicators of the disturbance degree of dry forests in Colombia.