Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (Aug 2010)

Absence of domestic triatomine colonies in an area of the coastal region of Ecuador where Chagas disease is endemic

  • Mario J Grijalva,
  • Francisco S Palomeque,
  • Anita G Villacís,
  • Carla L Black,
  • Laura Arcos-Terán

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1590/S0074-02762010000500013
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 105, no. 5
pp. 677 – 681

Abstract

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Rhodnius ecuadoriensis is considered the second most important vector of Chagas disease in Ecuador. It is distributed across six of the 24 provinces and occupies intradomiciliary, peridomiciliary and sylvatic habitats. This study was conducted in six communities within the coastal province of Guayas. Triatomine searches were conducted in domestic and peridomestic habitats and bird nests using manual searches, live-bait traps and sensor boxes. Synantrhopic mammals were captured in the domestic and peridomestic habitats. Household searches (n = 429) and randomly placed sensor boxes (n = 360) produced no live triatomine adults or nymphs. In contrast, eight nymphs were found in two out of six searched Campylorhynchus fasciatus (Troglodytidae) nests. Finally, Trypanosoma cruzi DNA was amplified from the blood of 10% of the 115 examined mammals. Environmental changes in land use (intensive rice farming), mosquito control interventions and lack of intradomestic adaptation are suggested among the possible reasons for the lack of domestic triatomine colonies.

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