Move over mosquitos. There’s another blood-sucking biter Americans need to guard against because it can spread disease: the sand fly.
Sand flies are tiny tan flies — about the quarter of the size of a mosquito — that live in warm areas, usually those that are rural and forested. In other parts of the world, they are known to transmit a parasite — a single celled organism — that causes an infectious disease called leishmaniasis. They’re most active at night, and they’re so tiny they can slip through ordinary mosquito nets on tents or window screens.
Leishmania can also infect internal organs including the liver, spleen, and bone marrow. This more severe type of leishmaniasis, called visceral leishmaniasis, is not believed to be transmitted in the United States, but people can be exposed by traveling to tropical countries. It’s fatal if left untreated.
Some types of these biting flies can now be found as far north as Delaware, New Jersey, Ohio and Maryland. It’s not clear whether sand flies in all these states have transmitted infections to humans, however. The CDC found the most common species of parasite among people without any history of travel was a bug known as Leishmania mexicana.
He says the new study offers solid confirmation that there’s a species of leishmania now being transmitted in the United States, something entomologists have suspected was happening within the last 5 to 10 years. He was also interested to see that in addition to mexicana, two other species of leishmania were reported from patients who had not recently traveled outside the United States.
Sand flies are repelled by bug sprays that contain DEET, and they can be killed by permethrin, so it’s a good idea to spray camping equipment and clothing for protection.
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