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Detection of high percentage of Trypanosoma cruzi infection, the etiologic agent of Chagas disease, in wild populations of Colombian Caribbean triatomines

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Abstract

In Colombia it is estimated that about 900,000 persons are infected with T. cruzi. There are 25 triatomine species and 5 of them have been reported infected with T. cruzi in the Colombian Caribbean region. In order to obtain more information about the triatomine populations in this region, 89 wild triatomines were collected from four Colombian Departments. The most frequent specie collected was Rhodnius pallescens (65%), followed by Rhodnius prolixus (20%), Panstrongylus geniculatus (10.1%) and Triatoma dimidiata (1%), found in Bolivar, Córdoba, Atlántico/Sucre, and Bolívar Departments, respectively. The majority of triatomines (95.5%) were captured in the arboreal ecotope and 76.4% were found infected with T. cruzi. Interestingly, some of these triatomine species were captured in Departments in which they had not previously been reported and also new finding of triatomine species infected with T. cruzi. These results are relevant, because they can be consequence of a continued geographical expansion of this parasite, not only in the Colombian Caribbean region, but even in all Latin America. The information presented here will contribute in the surveillance and control strategies of the vectors infected with T. cruzi that circulate in four department of Colombian Caribbean region in order to interrupt the transmission to human dwelling.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Ciencias Básicas, Grupo de Investigación Biodiversidad del Caribe Colombiano, Universidad del Atlántico, Colombia

    Melisa Eyes Escalante & Luz Alba Silvera

  2. Doctorado en Medicina Tropical, SUE Caribe, Colombia

    Melisa Eyes Escalante & Luz Alba Silvera

  3. Directora del Doctorado de Medicina Tropical, Universidad de Cartagena, SUE-Caribe, Colombia

    Doris Gomez

  4. Programa de Genética Humana, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina, Santiago, Chile

    Gittith Sánchez

  5. Programa de Biología Celular y Molecular, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina, Santiago, Chile

    Juan Venegas

Authors
  1. Melisa Eyes Escalante
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  2. Doris Gomez
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  3. Luz Alba Silvera
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  4. Gittith Sánchez
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  5. Juan Venegas
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Correspondence to Juan Venegas.

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Escalante, M.E., Gomez, D., Silvera, L.A. et al. Detection of high percentage of Trypanosoma cruzi infection, the etiologic agent of Chagas disease, in wild populations of Colombian Caribbean triatomines. Acta Parasit. 60, 315–321 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1515/ap-2015-0044

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ap-2015-0044

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