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In Italy,\n                      <jats:italic>P. perfiliewi<\/jats:italic>\n                      is the second most abundant sand fly species involved in\n                      <jats:italic>L. infantum<\/jats:italic>\n                      transmission exhibiting opportunistic behaviour in rural and semi-urban settings. Experimental infections were conducted to assess the susceptibility of a wild Italian\n                      <jats:italic>P. perfiliewi<\/jats:italic>\n                      population to the development of\n                      <jats:italic>L. tropica<\/jats:italic>\n                      and\n                      <jats:italic>L. major<\/jats:italic>\n                      .\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Experiments were performed with a wild\n                      <jats:italic>P. perfiliewi<\/jats:italic>\n                      population, collected in Magliano in Toscana (Tuscany, Italy). In separate experiments, females were artificially infected with a suspension of\n                      <jats:italic>L. tropica<\/jats:italic>\n                      or\n                      <jats:italic>L. major<\/jats:italic>\n                      (10\n                      <jats:sup>6<\/jats:sup>\n                      promastigotes\/ml). Infection progression was monitored through microscopic midgut dissection and supported by molecular analyses.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Experimental infections with\n                      <jats:italic>L. tropica<\/jats:italic>\n                      yielded 5923 engorged females, with an average feeding rate of 25.7% and a survival rate of 70%. The infection positivity rate was 25.2%, significantly lower than that observed in the control species. Nonetheless, parasite migration to the stomodeal valve suggests that\n                      <jats:italic>P. perfiliewi<\/jats:italic>\n                      may support the full developmental cycle of\n                      <jats:italic>L. tropica<\/jats:italic>\n                      , although less efficiently than the control species. Infections with\n                      <jats:italic>L. major<\/jats:italic>\n                      showed a significantly lower mean feeding rate (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u20090.05) and a positivity rate of 46.6%, compared to 70.5% in\n                      <jats:italic>P. perniciosus<\/jats:italic>\n                      (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u20090.03). Still,\n                      <jats:italic>P. perfiliewi<\/jats:italic>\n                      appeared capable of supporting\n                      <jats:italic>L. major<\/jats:italic>\n                      metacyclogenesis, even under light to moderate parasite loads (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u20090.007).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      These findings suggest that\n                      <jats:italic>P. perfiliewi<\/jats:italic>\n                      can support the development of both\n                      <jats:italic>L. tropica<\/jats:italic>\n                      and\n                      <jats:italic>L. major<\/jats:italic>\n                      under experimental conditions, with greater susceptibility observed for\n                      <jats:italic>L. tropica<\/jats:italic>\n                      . However, without in vivo confirmation or xenodiagnosis, its capacity for natural transmission remains unestablished. Nonetheless, implementing integrated One Health surveillance strategies would be advisable to monitor potential changes in the epidemiology of both exotic and endemic\n                      <jats:italic>Leishmania<\/jats:italic>\n                      species.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Graphical Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1186\/s13071-025-07170-7","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,5]],"date-time":"2025-12-05T11:39:31Z","timestamp":1764934771000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Evaluation of an Italian Phlebotomus perfiliewi (Larroussius) wild population as a permissive vector species for Leishmania tropica and L. major transmission"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"19","author":[{"given":"Ilaria","family":"Bernardini","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Claudia","family":"Mangiapelo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Eleonora","family":"Fiorentino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Stefania","family":"Orsini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Riccardo","family":"Bianchi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Anna Rosa","family":"Sannella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Aldo","family":"Scalone","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Trentina","family":"Di Muccio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gioia","family":"Bongiorno","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"7170_CR1","unstructured":"WHO. 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Experimental procedures were reviewed and approved by the Directorate of Animal Health and Veterinary Drugs of the Italian Ministry of Health (authorization no. 630\/2022-PR\u2014Reply to prot. D9997.148 #538771364#). The rabbits were housed at the animal facilities of Istituto Superiore di Sanit\u00e0, Italy. Routine animal care, handling and special treatments (e.g. anaesthesia) conformed to the standards specified in the Guide for Care and Use of Laboratory Animals approved by the veterinary ethics committee for animal care and experimentation of Istituto Superiore di Sanit\u00e0.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Ethics approval and consent to participate"}},{"value":"Not applicable.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Consent for publication"}},{"value":"The author serves as Associate Editor for Parasites and Vectors but was not involved in the editorial or peer review process for this manuscript, which was handled independently by another member of the editorial team.","order":4,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Competing interests"}}],"article-number":"19"}}