Potential vectors of Leishmaniases in the Environmental Protection Area and Tinguá Federal Biological Reserve, Municipality of Nova Iguaçu, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Leishmaniases are zoonotic diseases with outbreaks influenced by environmental factors that can alter their epidemiological profiles. They are transmitted to humans and other vertebrates through the bite of a female phlebotomine infected with parasites of the Leishmania genus. The aim of this study was to conduct an entomological survey of the phlebotomine fauna to determine the distribution of potential vectors of leishmaniases, as well as to diagnose Leishmania spp. and evaluate food content. A sample study on potential leishmaniases vectors was conducted in an Environmental Protection Area (EPA) and Tinguá Federal Biological Reserve (TFBR), Nova Iguaçu municipality, in Rio de Janeiro State. Light traps were used to collect insects in the two study areas from September 2019 to March 2020. The data were obtained from six monitoring stations (MSs): MS1, MS2 and MS3 (EPA), and MS4, MS5 and MS6 (TFBR). Traps were installed in intradomicile, peridomicile, and residual forests in the EPA, while they were set up in wild animal burrows and rock formations in the TFBR. Phlebotomine samples (Diptera, Psychodidae) obtained from different MS's were used to estimate the standardized index of species abundance (SISA), diagnose specimens as Leishmania spp., and analyse the blood food content of the female sand flies. Seven primary or potential vectors were detected in relation to the total number of collected sand flies. These included Nyssomyia intermedia in the intradomicile, peridomicile, and residual forests of the EPA. This species was not detected in the TFBR, but other potential vectors were observed in both areas. During the diagnosis of Leishmania spp. in the sand flies, one specimen of Psychodopygus hirsutus hirsutus was positive for Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis in the peridomicile (MS3). A specimen of Psychodopygus davisi was observed feeding on Tamandua tetradactyla in MS5 (TFBR), a potential reservoir of Leishmania. The presence of primary vectors, potential vectors, L. (V.) braziliensis, and a natural reservoir indicated the possible existence of a sylvatic and domestic transmission cycle in the American tegumentary leishmaniasis region.