FIRST ISOLATIONS OF ARBOVIRUSES FROM PHLEBOTOMINE SAND FLIES IN WEST-AFRICA

For the first time in West Africa, arboviruses were isolated from phle botomine sand fly pools. One strain of Chandipura virus (a Vesiculovir us), four strains of Saboya virus (a Flavivirus), and one strain of a not yet identified virus were isolated. Three hundred twenty-two pools were established from a population of 33,917 sand flies caught in CO, light traps in the Ferlo Sahelian region of Senegal from November 199 1 to December 1992. This is the first isolation of Chandipura virus fr om any arthropod in Africa. Saboya virus has already been isolated fro m small rodents in Senegal; thus, its transmission cycle probably invo lves rodentophilic sand flies. No strain of Rift Valley fever phlebovi rus, which caused an epizootic in this region in 1987, was isolated. D uring the same time at the same site, 11 sand fly species were identif ied from 4,191 specimens caught on sticky traps, including Phlebotomus duboscqi, a leishmaniasis vector.