[Impact of the spraying of deltamethrin in a focus of leishmaniasis in Bolivia].

After one month of entomological observations to record pretreatment data, a sub Andean village of Yungas, Bolivia (alt. 1500 m) was sprayed at the beginning of the rainy season (January 1987). Houses were treated inside and outside with deltamethrin at 0.025 g/sq.m.; kennels, hen-houses and stacks of adobe were also sprayed in the same way. As a result of the treatment, Lutzomyia longipalpis, the local vector of visceral leishmaniasis, disappeared from houses and animal shelters for 9 and 10 months respectively. The impact of the treatment on the populations of Lu. nuneztovari and anglesi, the presumed vector of tegumentary leishmaniasis, was not obvious. As compared with pretreatment data, the rate of engorged females in houses decreased by two, and their density was also reduced. But these data are difficult to interpret due to the natural seasonal variation in density in this species. Moreover, the information from the control village did not correspond as expected. Lu. n. anglesi is a highly exophilic species in this area, a behaviour which could explain the limited impact of the treatment on this sandfly.