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introduced since the European discovery of the New World (Lainson, 

 1982). 



Possibly the first written account implicating sand flies in the 

 transmission of human pathogens, including leishmaniasis, appeared in 

 1764 in a sort of almanac published in Lima, Peru, under the direction 

 of Cosme Bueno, distinguished physician, mathematician and geographer 

 (Herrer and Christensen, 1975). In El Conocimiento de los Tiempos he 

 discussed the folklore regarding the natural transmission of verruga 

 (bartonel losis) and corrosive facial ulcers (uta, a form of cutaneous 

 leishmaniasis), reporting that both diseases originate from the bite 

 of a small insect called "Uta" (sand fly). More than a century later, 

 Mitford reported on cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Middle East and 

 considered the possible participation of some insect in the transmis- 

 sion of Aleppo boil, although its exact role was not clearly indicated 

 (Lewis, 1978). In 1904 Rogers discovered that the causative agent of 

 Indian kala-azar (visceral leishmaniasis) developed into a leptomonad 

 flagellate in culture. He also noted that similar organisms (e.g., 

 Leptomonas ) had been found in insects (mosquitoes), tangential ly sug- 

 gesting an insect vector of kala-azar (Rogers, 1904). The ensuing 

 search for vectors of kala-azar ( Leishmania donovani ) and oriental 

 sore ( Leishmania tropica ) included a wide range of suspects including 

 bed bugs, fleas, mosquitoes, house flies, sand flies, hippoboscids, 

 and even leeches. In 1905, the Sergents and Pressat, attracted by the 

 coincidental distribution of sand flies and leishmaniasis, indepen- 

 dently suggested that these insects were probable vectors of oriental 

 sore (Sergent et _al_., 1914; Kirk and Lewis, 1955). Wenyon (1912) 

 reviewed the advances made in the knowledge of leishmaniasis in 



