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Hungary is regarded as free of leishmaniasis because only a few imported cases have been reported. However, southern Hungary has a sub-Mediterranean climate, and so it was included in the EU FP6 EDEN project, which aimed to map the northern limits of canine leishmaniasis (CanL) in Europe.

Phlebotomus papatasi (Scopoli) (Diptera: Psychodidae) is the main vector of Leishmania major Yakimoff & Schokhor (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae), the causative agent of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Old World.

The presence of the disease was shown in the canine population for the first time in 2007 by indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT). The parasite circulation was confirmed also by direct diagnostic tools, as PCR, cytology and cultural method, performed on different bioptic materials.

An entomological survey was conducted to determine the spatial distribution of phlebotomine fauna and understand the effect of environmental factors.

A seroprevalence study was carried out in the region of Marseille (south-eastern France) to address the public health importance of sandfly fever Sicilian virus (SFSV) and SFSV-like viruses, as recently recognized vectors of those viruses are present in this area.