Molecular and serological rapid tests as markers of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in dogs in Costa Rica.

Introduction: Chagas disease is a zoonotic disease caused by Trypanosoma cruzi and dogs are one of the main domestic reservoirs.

Materials And Methods: One molecular (OligoC-TesT, Coris Bioconcept) and one serological (T. cruzi-Detect, Inbios) rapid tests were evaluated as infection markers for T.

Life cycle of Triatoma ryckmani (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) in the laboratory, feeding patterns in nature and experimental infection with Trypanosoma cruzi.

A cohort initiated with 121 eggs, yielding 105 first instar nymphs (eclosion rate: 86.78%), allowed us to observe the entire life cycle of Triatoma ryckmani under laboratory conditions (24 degrees C and 62% relative humidity), by feeding them on anesthetized hamsters. It was possible to obtain 62 adults and the cycle from egg to adult took a mean of 359.

Ecological control of Triatoma dimidiata (Latreille, 1811): five years after a Costa Rican pilot project.

An ecological pilot project for the control of Triatoma dimidiata allowed a new evaluation four and five years after environmental modifications in the peridomestic areas of 20 households. It was verified that the two groups of houses, 10 case-houses and 10 control-houses, were free of insects after those periods of time. In the first group, the owners started a chicken coop in the backyard and a colony of bugs was found there without infesting the house.