Bat microfilariae in the cityscape: a transmission tale between bats, mites, and bat flies.

Litomosoides includes filarial nematodes capable of infecting various vertebrate species. While Litomosoides has been extensively studied in rodents, research on its association with bats remains limited. The transmission dynamics of this parasite are complex, involving moving between different invertebrate hosts before reaching the final host.

Climate change and Trypanosoma cruzi transmission in North and central America.

Trypanosoma cruzi is a protozoan parasite that causes Chagas disease in humans. Transmission of T cruzi by triatomine vectors is dependent on diverse environmental and socioeconomic factors. Climate change, which is disrupting patterns of human habitation and land use, can affect the epidemiology of Chagas disease by influencing the distribution of vector and host species.

Heterorhabditis indica (Nematoda: Rhabditida) a possible new biological control agent against the vector of Chagas disease.

Chagas disease is a zoonosis caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi and transmitted through the feces of triatomines, mainly in Latin America. Since the 1950s, chemical insecticides have been the primary method for controlling these triatomines, yet resistance has emerged, prompting the exploration of alternative approaches. The objective of this research was to test the capacity of the entomopathogenic nematodes Heterorhabditis indica and its symbiotic bacteria Photorhabdus luminescens, to produce mortality of Triatoma dimidiata a key vector of T.

Presence of Trypanosoma cruzi TcI and Trypanosoma dionisii in sylvatic bats from Yucatan, Mexico.

Background: Chagas disease is caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, whose genetic structure is divided into six discrete typing units (DTUs) known as TcI-TcVI. In the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, information regarding the DTUs circulating in wild mammals is scarce, while this is important knowledge for our understanding of T. cruzi transmission dynamics.

A Five-Year Study on Infestation and Abundance of Bat Flies (Hippoboscoidea: Streblidae) Under Severe Dry Season Conditions in the Tropical Dry Forest of Yucatan, Mexico.

In Mexico, few studies have explored how environmental conditions in tropical dry forests (TDF) influence bat fly load even though, according to climate change scenarios, this ecosystem will experience a drier and warmer climate. Such an extension of the dry season in these ecosystems could have dramatic consequences for biodiversity, particularly in regions with plains where animals do not have elevational climate shifts. The present study therefore evaluates the effect of prevailing environmental conditions during 2015-2019, as well as host body conditions, on the infestation and abundance of bat-specific ectoparasites and the composition and bat fly load in the dry season of a TDF in Yucatan.

Transmission ecology of Trypanosoma cruzi by Rhodnius prolixus (Reduviidae: Triatominae) infesting palm-tree species in the Colombian Orinoco, indicates risks to human populations.

Background: Chagas disease, affecting approximately eight million individuals in tropical regions, is primarily transmitted by vectors. Rhodnius prolixus, a triatomine vector, commonly inhabits in ecotopes with diverse palm tree species, creating optimal conditions for vector proliferation. This study aims to explore the transmission ecology of Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative parasite of Chagas disease, by investigating the feeding patterns and natural infection rates of R.

Trypanosoma cruzi in Mexican Neotropical vectors and mammals: wildlife, livestock, pets, and human population.

Objective: To provide primary evidence of Trypanosoma cruzi landscape genetics in the Mexican Neotropics.

Materials And Methods: Trypanosoma cruzi and discrete typing units (DTU) prevalence were analyzed in landscape communities of vectors, wildlife, livestock, pets, and sympatric human populations using endpoint PCR and sequencing of all relevant amplicons from mitochondrial (kDNA) and nuclear (ME, 18S, 24Sα) gene markers.

Results: Although 98% of the infected sample-set (N=2 963) contained single or mixed infections of DTUI (TcI, 96.

Temporal variation of Triatoma dimidiata abundance and infection with Trypanosoma cruzi in domestic and sylvatic habitats of rural Yucatan, Mexico.

In the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, Triatoma dimidiata is the main vector of Chagas disease. This is a native species in the region that principally inhabits sylvatic habitats. Nevertheless, it shows a tolerant behavior to anthropogenic disturbance, with adult bugs frequently infesting human dwellings, principally during the warm and dry season.

Geometric morphometrics and ecological niche modelling for delimitation of (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae) haplogroups.

A recent phylogenetic analysis of , an important Chagas disease vector in Mexico, based on molecular markers, revealed five monophyletic haplogroups with validity as cryptic species. Here, we compare haplogroups using head and pronotum features, environmental characteristics of their habitats, and ecological niche modeling. To analyze variation in shape, images of the head and pronotum of the specimens were obtained and analyzed using methods based on landmarks and semi-landmarks.

Global urban environmental change drives adaptation in white clover.

Urbanization transforms environments in ways that alter biological evolution. We examined whether urban environmental change drives parallel evolution by sampling 110,019 white clover plants from 6169 populations in 160 cities globally. Plants were assayed for a Mendelian antiherbivore defense that also affects tolerance to abiotic stressors.

Presence and potential distribution of malaria-infected New World primates of Costa Rica.

Background: In South and Central America, Plasmodium malariae/Plasmodium brasilianum, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium simium, and Plasmodium falciparum has been reported in New World primates (NWP). Specifically in Costa Rica, the presence of monkeys positive to P. malariae/P brasilianum has been identified in both captivity and in the wild.

Serosurvey of Nonhuman Primates in Costa Rica at the Human-Wildlife Interface Reveals High Exposure to Flaviviruses.

Arthropod-borne viruses belonging to the flavivirus genus possess an enormous relevance in public health. Neotropical non-human primates (NPs) have been proposed to be susceptible to flavivirus infections due to their arboreal and diurnal habits, their genetic similarity to humans, and their relative closeness to humans. However, the only known flavivirus in the American continent maintained by sylvatic cycles involving NPs is yellow fever virus (YFV), and NPs' role as potential hosts of other flaviviruses is still unknown.

Quantitative imagery analysis of spot patterns for the three-haplogroup classification of Triatoma dimidiata (Latreille, 1811) (Hemiptera: Reduviidae), an important vector of Chagas disease.

Background: Spots and coloring patterns evaluated quantitatively can be used to discriminate and identify possible cryptic species. Species included in the Triatoma dimidiata (Reduviidae: Triatominae) complex are major disease vectors of Chagas disease. Phylogenetic studies have defined three haplogroups for Mexico and part of Central America.

Tackling zoonoses in a crowded world: Lessons to be learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 zoonosis is bringing about a number of lessons to humanity. One is that of transforming our links with nature and, particularly, wildlife given the likely COVID-19 origin from illegal wildlife trading. Similar to vector borne diseases (VBD, diseases transmitted by vectors), the COVID-19 pandemic follows related patterns (e.

Environmental factors associated With Exposure in Neotropical Primates of Costa Rica.

The apicomplexan parasite () has been found in more than 350 species of homoeothermic vertebrates in diverse climates and geographic areas. In most animals, produces mild or asymptomatic infection. However, acute and hyperacute toxoplasmosis is associated with high mortality rates observed in Neotropical primates (NP) in captivity.

Identifying Chagas disease vectors using elliptic Fourier descriptors of body contour: a case for the cryptic dimidiata complex.

Background: Triatoma dimidiata (Reduviidae: Triatominae) is an important vector of Chagas disease in various countries in the Americas. Phylogenetic studies have defined three lineages in Mexico and part of Central America. While there is a marked genetic differentiation, methods for identifying them using morphometric analyses with landmarks have not yet been fully resolutive.

Herbivory and anti-herbivore defences in wild and cultivated : disentangling domestication and environmental effects.

Phenotypic changes in plants during domestication may disrupt plant-herbivore interactions. Because wild and cultivated plants have different habitats and some anti-herbivore defences exhibit some plasticity, their defences may be also influenced by the environment. Our goal was to assess the effects of domestication and the environment on herbivory and some anti-herbivore defences in chaya () in its centre of domestication.

Phylogeny of the North-Central American clade of blood-sucking reduviid bugs of the tribe Triatomini (Hemiptera: Triatominae) based on the mitochondrial genome.

Triatominae is a subfamily of blood-sucking reduviid hemipterans of public health importance primarily in tropical and sub-tropical regions of the Americas, whose members possess various morphological adaptations closely associated to hematophagy. Despite their medical importance, the systematics of the subfamily is far from resolved, particularly within the tribe Triatomini. Here we employed mitochondrial genome DNA sequences to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships among 19 species of the North-Central American (NCA) clade of Triatomini and to estimate the times of origin and diversification of its main clades.

Bocaparvovirus, Erythroparvovirus and Tetraparvovirus in New World Primates from Central America.

Parvoviruses in the genera Bocaparvovirus (HBoV), Erythroparvovirus (B19) and Tetraparvovirus (PARV4) are the only autonomous parvoviruses known to be associated with human and non-human primates based on studies and clinical cases in humans worldwide and non-human primates in Asia and Africa. Here, the presence of these agents with pathogenic potential was assessed by PCR in blood and faeces from 55 howler monkeys, 112 white-face monkeys, 3 squirrel monkeys and 127 spider monkeys in Costa Rica and El Salvador. Overall, 3.

Carnivore Protoparvovirus 1 at the Wild-Domestic Carnivore Interface in Northwestern Mexico.

Eighty-three wild and domestic carnivores of nine species from Janos Biosphere Reserve (JBR), Mexico, were tested by serologic and molecular assays to determine exposure and infection rates of carnivore protoparvovirus 1. Overall, 50.8% (33/65) of the wild carnivores and 100% (18/18) of the domestic dogs tested were seropositive for Canine protoparvovirus 1 (CPV), while 23% (15/65) of the wild carnivores and 22.

A reduction in ecological niche for Trypanosoma cruzi-infected triatomine bugs.

Background: Theory predicts that parasites can affect and thus drive their hosts' niche. Testing this prediction is key, especially for vector-borne diseases including Chagas disease. Here, we examined the niche use of seven triatomine species that occur in Mexico, based on whether they are infected or not with Trypanosoma cruzi, the vectors and causative parasites of Chagas disease, respectively.

Combining morphological and molecular data to reconstruct the phylogeny of avian Haemosporida.

The traditional classification of avian Haemosporida is based mainly on morphology and life history traits. Recently, molecular hypotheses have challenged the traditional classification, leading to contradictory opinions on whether morphology is phylogenetically informative. However, the morphology has never been used to reconstruct the relationships within the group.

Trypanosoma cruzi reservoir-triatomine vector co-occurrence networks reveal meta-community effects by synanthropic mammals on geographic dispersal.

Contemporary patterns of land use and global climate change are modifying regional pools of parasite host species. The impact of host community changes on human disease risk, however, is difficult to assess due to a lack of information about zoonotic parasite host assemblages. We have used a recently developed method to infer parasite-host interactions for Chagas Disease (CD) from vector-host co-occurrence networks.