Background: In Peru, the information regarding sand fly vectors of leishmaniasis and bartonellosis in the Amazon region is limited. In this study, we carried out sand fly collections in Peruvian lowland and highland jungle areas using different trap type configurations and screened them forLeishmaniaandBartonellaDNA.Methodology/Principal findings: Phlebotomine sand flies were collected in Peruvian Amazon jungle and inter Andean regions using CDC light trap, UV and color LED traps, Mosquito Magnet trap, BG Sentinel trap, and a Shannon trap placed outside the houses.Leishmaniaspp. screening was performed by kDNA PCR and confirmed by a nested cytochrome B gene (cytB) PCR.Bartonellaspp. screening was performed by ITS PCR and confirmed by citrate synthase gene (gltA). The PCR amplicons were sequenced to identifyLeishmaniaandBartonellaspecies.UV and Blue LED traps collected the highest average number of sand flies per hour in low jungle; UV, Mosquito Magnet and Shannon traps in high jungle; and Mosquito Magnet in inter Andean region.Leishmania guyanensisinLutzomyia carrerai carreraiandL.naiffiinLu.hirsuta hirsutawere identified based oncytBsequencing.Bartonellaspp. related toBartonella bacilliformisinLu.whitmani,Lu.nevesi,Lu.hirsuta hirsutaandLu.sherlocki, and aBartonellasp. related toCandidatusB. rondoniensis inLu.nevesiandLu.maranonensiswere identified based ongltAgene sequencing.Conclusions/Significance: UV, Blue LED, Mosquito Magnet and Shannon traps were more efficient than the BG-Sentinel, Green, and Red LED traps. This is the first report ofL.naiffiand of two genotypes ofBartonellaspp. related toB.bacilliformisandCandidatusB. rondoniensis infecting sand fly species from the Amazon region in Peru.

Leishmaniasis and Carrion's disease are endemic neglected diseases in Peru. Both diseases are transmitted by phlebotomine sand flies competent for infection with Leishmania species and Bartonella bacilliformis. In Peru, 149 sand fly species have been identified. Knowledge regarding sand fly species diversity and distribution in leishmaniasis and Carrion's disease transmission areas has grown in the past 2 decades through multiple surveillance efforts in endemic regions, including unexplored low and high jungle areas. Furthermore, molecular testing approaches have been implemented to enhance surveillance of Leishmania and Bartonella species in sand fly populations from these endemic regions. This review emphasizes the importance of entomological surveillance in Peru for the characterization of sand fly species and the discovery of a great diversity of Leishmania and Bartonella species in sand fly populations from Andean and Amazonian regions.

Phlebotomine sand flies are blood-sucking dipterans widely distributed in tropical and subtropical areas of the Americas and are important vectors of leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania spp. parasites and Carrion’s disease caused by the bacteria Bartonella bacilliformis . Both are a significant economic burden in rural areas and a major risk to military personnel deployed to endemic areas. To better understand transmission of these pathogens and epidemiological trends, sand flies were collected from nine sites across the Ecuador-Peru border region in 2015 and 2017 and screened for Leishmania using PCR targeting kinetoplast DNA, and Bartonella using PCR targeting the 16S-23S internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, citrate synthase ( gltA ) gene, and NADH dehydrogenase subunit G ( nuoG ) gene. A total of 548 sand flies belonging to 15 species and 2,711 sand flies belonging to 11 species were collected in Ecuador and Peru, respectively. Pintomyia (Pifanomyia) robusta was generally the most abundant species found across sites sampled in Ecuador and Peru. In the Chinchipe River basin, Pi. (Pif.) robusta , Pintomyia (Pifanomyia) maranonensis , and Lutzomyia (Helcocyrtomyia) castanea were collected on both sides in Zamora-Chinchipe, Ecuador, and Namballe, Peru. Of the 637 phlebotomine sand fly pools screened, no Leishmania positives were found; however, nine pools of Pi. (Pif.) robusta collected in Ecuador were positive for B. bacilliformis based on phylogenetic analysis of the gltA gene. One Pi. (Pif.) maranonensis from Peru and one Pi. (Pif.) robusta from Ecuador were positive for Bartonella DNA sequences that were close to Candidatus Bartonella rondoniensis based on gltA . This is the first reported detection of B. bacilliformis DNA in Pi. (Pif.) robusta , providing evidence for the role of this sand fly species in transmission of this pathogen at the Ecuador-Peru border.

Endemic and (re)emerging infectious diseases pose a major threat to public health and military readiness in Central and South America. The high biodiversity and the differing transmission pathways require the use of highly sensitive methods to track the emergence and spread of these diseases. High-throughput sequencing technologies have become a critical resource for the field of infectious disease monitoring, specifically for tracking pathogen evolution, antimicrobial resistance, and transmission. This review provides an overview of the implementation of genomics-informed infectious disease surveillance conducted by the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit SOUTH, focusing on operational, infrastructural, and logistical challenges in resource-limited settings and outlining strategies for building sustainable regional capacity. Selected case studies focused on prominent biothreats including dengue, Oropouche, malaria, and antimicrobial resistance demonstrate the significance and applicability of targeted and agnostic sequencing approaches to elucidate transmission pathways, pathogen discovery, and guide public health responses and field-deployable applications.