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4. The ability of Lu_. diabol ica to transmit L mexicana (strain 

 WR-411) by bite has now been confirmed experimentally. The parasite 

 strain used was obtained from a patient living in the type locality of 

 Lu . diabol ica . 



Additional weight of ev-idence is provided by observations that Lu . 

 diabol ica may be an opportunistic feeder, taking blood meals from a 

 wide range of hosts (page 154, Chap. 3). Moreover, its somewhat 

 peridomestic habits increase the likelihood of possible transmission 

 between natural mammalian reservoirs of leishmaniasis and man and his 

 domesticated animals. No mammmalian reservoir hosts for leishmaniasis 

 are known in south central Texas, but interest in this aspect of the 

 epidemiology of the Texas focus is mounting. Grogl et _al_. (1984) 

 found immunological evidence of exposure to leishmaniasis in Texas 

 coyotes. In addition, results of serologic tests on four dogs 

 belonging to patients in the Texas focus indicate that these animals 

 may have been exposed to the disease (Gustafson e_t aj_., 1984). Wild- 

 caught _Lu. diabol ica collected at the case site in D'Hanis, Texas, fed 

 readily to repletion on one of these dogs. 



One criterion remains to be fulfilled in order to complete the 

 chain of evidence linking Lu. diabol ica with the natural transmission 

 of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Texas, namely, the isolation from wild- 

 caught sand flies of Leishmania that are indistinguishable from the 

 parasite causing the disease in man in the same place. 



