Deltamethrin-impregnated PVC dog collars were tested to assess if they were effective in protecting dogs
from sand fly bites of Lutzomyia longipalpis and Lu. migonei. A protective effect against Old World species
Phlebotomus perniciosus was demonstrated before. Four dogs wearing deltamethrin collars and three dogs
wearing untreated collars (not impregnated with deltamethrin) were kept in separate kennels for over eight
months in a village on the outskirts of Fortaleza in Ceará, Brazil. Periodically, a dog from each group was
sedated, placed in a net cage for 2 h in which 150 female sand flies had been released 10-15 min before. Lu. longipalpis were used 4, 8, 12, 16, 22, 27, and 35 weeks after the attachment of the collars. Lu. migonei were used 3, 7, 11, 15, 22, 26, and 36 weeks after attachment. During 35 weeks, only 4.1% (81 of 2,022) Lu. longipalpis recovered from the nets with the deltamethrin collared dogs were engorged, an anti-feeding effect of 96%. Mortality initially was over 90% and at 35 weeks was 35% with half of the sand flies dying in the first 2 h. In contrast, 83% of the 2,094 Lu. longipalpis recovered from the nets containing the untreated collared dogs were engorged and the mortality ranged from zero to 18.8% on one occasion with 1.1% dying in the first 2 h. Similar findings were found with Lu. migonei: of 2,034 sand flies recovered over this period, only 70 were engorged, an anti-feeding effect of 96.5%, and mortality ranged from 91% initially to 46% at 36 weeks. In contrast, engorgement of controls ranged from 91 to71% and a mortality ranged from 3.5 to 29.8%.
These studies show that deltamethrin impregnated collars can protect dogs against Brazilian sand flies for
up to eight months. Thus, they should be useful in a program to control human and canine visceral
leishmaniasis.
