{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,5]],"date-time":"2026-06-05T05:01:34Z","timestamp":1780635694212,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,3]],"date-time":"2023-01-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1672704000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI)","award":["11078"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["11078"]}]},{"name":"Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI)","award":["731060"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["731060"]}]},{"name":"European Union\u2019s Horizon 2020 (INFRAVEC2)","award":["11078"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["11078"]}]},{"name":"European Union\u2019s Horizon 2020 (INFRAVEC2)","award":["731060"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["731060"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Viruses"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The continuously expanding distribution of sand flies, proven vectors of Leishmania and of several phleboviruses, is a growing public health issue in Europe. Especially in Italy, visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is occurring with increasing incidence northward, in previously non-endemic provinces. Around the globe, disease elimination efforts largely focus on sand fly vector insecticidal control, often leading to the development of resistance. In Emilia-Romagna (ER), northern Italy, insecticides are heavily applied for agricultural and mosquito control, but not specifically against sand flies. Here, we investigated the sand fly species composition in certain environmental settings in ER provinces and monitored the presence of pyrethroid resistance mutations and pathogen circulation. Phlebotomus perfiliewi, a dominant vector of Leishmania infantum, was detected almost exclusively in the region. No mutations in the voltage-gated sodium channel gene, e.g., knock-down resistance mutations I1011M, L1014F\/S, V1016G, or F1020S, were recorded. Pathogen monitoring revealed that almost 40% of the tested sand fly pools were positive for Leishmania, while the presence of Toscana and Fermo phleboviruses was also observed in much lower frequencies (\u22643% positive pools). Regular epidemiological and entomological monitoring, alongside resistance surveillance, is highly recommended to ensure the sustainability and efficiency of vector control interventions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/v15010148","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,4]],"date-time":"2023-01-04T01:42:44Z","timestamp":1672796564000},"page":"148","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Monitoring of Insecticide Resistance Mutations and Pathogen Circulation in Sand Flies from Emilia-Romagna, a Leishmaniasis Endemic Region of Northern Italy"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Sofia","family":"Balaska","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Molecular Biology & Biotechnology, Foundation for Research & Technology Hellas, 70013 Heraklion, Greece"},{"name":"Department of Biology, University of Crete, 70013 Heraklion, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7489-2556","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mattia","family":"Calzolari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell\u2019Emilia Romagna (IZSLER) \u201cB. Ubertini\u201d, 25124 Brescia, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9150-9141","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Annalisa","family":"Grisendi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell\u2019Emilia Romagna (IZSLER) \u201cB. Ubertini\u201d, 25124 Brescia, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mara","family":"Scremin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell\u2019Emilia Romagna (IZSLER) \u201cB. Ubertini\u201d, 25124 Brescia, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michele","family":"Dottori","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell\u2019Emilia Romagna (IZSLER) \u201cB. Ubertini\u201d, 25124 Brescia, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9544-9510","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Konstantinos","family":"Mavridis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Molecular Biology & Biotechnology, Foundation for Research & Technology Hellas, 70013 Heraklion, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9336-9111","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Romeo","family":"Bellini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro Agricoltura Ambiente (CAA) \u201cGiorgio Nicoli\u201d, Via Sant\u2019Agata 835, Crevalcore, 40014 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"John","family":"Vontas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Molecular Biology & Biotechnology, Foundation for Research & Technology Hellas, 70013 Heraklion, Greece"},{"name":"Pesticide Science Lab, Department of Crop Science, Agricultural University of Athens, 11855 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"(2022, November 02). 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