Medical and Veterinary Entomology (2020), doi: 10.1111/mve.12464 Molecular detection of Leishmania (Sauroleishmania) tarentolae in human blood and Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum in Sergentomyia minuta: unexpected host-parasite contacts M. P O M B I 1 , A. G I A C O M I 1 , G. B A R L O Z Z A R I 2 , J. M E N D O Z A- R O L D A N 3 , G. M A C RÌ 2 , D. O T R A N T O 3 and S. G A B R I E L L I 1 1 Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica e Malattie Infettive, Sapienza Università di Roma, Rome, Italy, 2 Department of Direzione Operativa Sierologia, Istituto Zooproflattico Sperimentale del Lazio e della Toscana, Rome, Italy and 3 Dipartimento di Medicina Veterinaria, Università degli Studi di Bari, Valenzano, Italy Abstract. The detection of atypical Kinetoplastida in vertebrate hosts and vectors might suggest unexpected host-parasite contacts. Aside to major vectors of Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum in Italy (e.g. Phlebotomus perniciosus and Phlebotomus perfl- iewi), the sand fy fauna also includes Sergentomyia minuta, herpetophilic and proven vector of Leishmania (Sauroleishmania) tarentolae, in which records of blood meal on mammals and detection of L. infantum DNA are increasing. This study was conducted in Central Italy aiming to molecularly detect potential atypical Leishmania host-vector con- tacts. Detection of Leishmania spp. DNA was performed by polymerase chain reaction (SSU rRNA, ITS1 targets) on feld-collected sand fy females (N = 344), blood samples from humans (N = 185) and dogs (N = 125). Blood meal identifcation was also per- formed on engorged sand fies. Leishmania spp. DNA was found in 13.1% sand fies, 3.7% humans and 14.4% dogs. Sequence analysis identifed L. infantum in S. minuta (4.4%), P. perniciosus (9.1%), humans (2.2%) and dogs (14.4%). Leishmania tarento- lae was detected in S. minuta (12.6%), P. perfliewi (6.6%) and human (1.6%) samples. Of 28 S. minuta examined for blood meal, 3.6 and 21.4% scored positive for human and lizard DNA, respectively. These results indicate the importance of one-health approach to explore new potential routes of transmission of leishmaniasis involving S. minuta. Key words. Kinetoplastida, Trypanosomatidae, Italy, Lazio region, leishmaniasis, lizard, molecular detection, one health, zoonosis. Introduction Leishmania infantum, a major agent of canine and human leishmaniasis, is endemic throughout the Mediterranean basin, including Italy (Maroli et al., 2008; Otranto & Dantas-Torres, 2010), where its northwards spread has been Correspondence: Marco Pombi, Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica e Malattie Infettive, Sapienza Università di Roma, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy. Tel.: +39 0649694271; E-mail: marco.pombi@uniroma1.it Simona Gabrielli, Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica e Malattie Infettive, Sapienza Università di Roma, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy. Tel.: +39 06499914589; E-mail: simona.gabrielli@uniroma1.it recently reported with a worrying increase in recorded cases (Gramiccia et al., 2013). Although Phlebotomus perniciosus and Phlebotomus perfl- iewi are the proven major vectors of L. infantum in Italy (Bet- tini et al., 1986; Maroli et al., 1987; Maroli et al., 1988; Maroli et al., 1994), the sand fy fauna includes, among others, © 2020 The Royal Entomological Society 1