Chagas Disease in the Amazon Basin: association of Panstrongylus geniculatus (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) with domestic pigs

Just over 100 autochthonous cases of Chagas disease are reported from the Brazilian Amazon Basin. Panstrongylus geniculatus (Latreille) occurs throughout the region and is the known vector of Trypanosoma cruzi, principal zymodeme 3 (Z3) to the armadillo Dasypus novemcinctus. In the small riverine co...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Valente, Vera da Costa, Valente, Sebastião Aldo da Silva, Noireau, Francois, Carrasco, Hernan J, Miles, Michael A
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:1998
Country:Brasil
Institution:Instituto Evandro Chagas (IEC)
Repository:Repositório Digital do Instituto Evandro Chagas (Patuá)
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:patua.iec.gov.br:iec/1052
Online Access:https://patua.iec.gov.br/handle/iec/1052
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Suínos
Doença de Chagas / diagnóstico
Hemípteros
Reduviidae
Sus scrofa
Description
Summary:Just over 100 autochthonous cases of Chagas disease are reported from the Brazilian Amazon Basin. Panstrongylus geniculatus (Latreille) occurs throughout the region and is the known vector of Trypanosoma cruzi, principal zymodeme 3 (Z3) to the armadillo Dasypus novemcinctus. In the small riverine community of Furo do Rio Pau Grande, pigsties adjoining houses were heavily infested with P. geniculatus, which repeatedly attacked local inhabitants. Palm trees in the immediate vicinity were also infested. T. cruzi principal zymodeme 1 (Zl) was isolated from P. geniculatus, domestic pigs, and opossums, but no human infections were detected. The threat of endemic Chagas disease to the Amazon Basin from either domiciliation of local silvatic triatomine species, or from migration of domestic vectors, demands a program of vigilance and plans of action to eliminate household triatomine colonies.