Multiplexed Rapid Test Kit for Leishmania Detection in Sand Flies

Sand flies are carriers of Leishmania infection (leishmaniasis), a disease common to tropical and subtropical countries. Millions of people are infected every year, and thousands of fatalities are attributed to this disease. American military personnel and their allies currently stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan are being infected with leishmaniasis. An effective strategy to prevent the spread of this disease would be to determine whether the local sand fly population carries the pathogens, and if so, to use effective pest control methods to eradicate these populations. This could be an important strategy for controlling outbreaks, and for using pesticides responsibly to avoid potentially polluting the soil, air, and water. This would also mitigate the development of insecticide-resistant pathogens. The Phase I work conclusively demonstrated the technical feasibility of developing a highly sensitive lateral flow test strip to simultaneously detect both Leishmania infantum and Leishmania major. Phase II work involves optimizing the test strips to achieve greater detection sensitivity (85%) and specificity (90%), developing a complete field test kit, conducting an independent evaluation of the test strips, and conducting stability testing. Optimized test kits to perform 1,000 assays will be delivered to the contractor by the end of Phase II.