The governorate of Tartous, which lies on the east Mediterranean coast in
the west of Syria, is considered an important endemic area for human
cutaneous leishmaniasis (HCL). Between June and October 2004, 988 sand flies
were collected, from 13 vil
lages distributed in five principle areas of the
governorate, by using sticky paper (SP) and CDC traps.
The 20/988 sand flies caught, belonged to the genus Sergentomyia, whereas
968/988 sand flies were Phlebotomus species. The Sergentomyia caught were S.
dentata (2%). The identified Phlebotomus were P. papatasi (49.8%), P. syriacus
(35.5%), P. tobbi (10.8%), P. neglectus (0.6%), P. jacusieli (0.7%), and P. simici
(0.5%). The later two species are recorded for the first time in Tartous
governorate.
