Socio-environmental factors associated with the occurrence of triatomines (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) in an endemic municipality in northern Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Triatomines are the vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease. The study aimed to evaluate the association between sociodemographic and environmental factors, and changes in land use and cover, with the occurrence and abundance of triatomines by census sectors in an endemic municipality of northern Minas Gerais, Brazil. The study was conducted in Montes Claros, located in the north of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

High Parasitic Loads Quantified in Sylvatic , a Chagas Disease Vector.

is a sylvatic vector species in Brazil. In We aimed to characterize the discrete typing units (DTUs), the parasitic loads, and the blood meal sources of insects collected in rocky outcrops in rural areas in the state of Minas Gerais. An optical microscope (OM) and kDNA-PCR were used to examine natural infection by , and positive samples were genotyped by conventional multilocus PCR.

, a neglected vector of in the Cerrado savannas of South America: A comprehensive review.

is a little-known triatomine-bug species whose role as a vector of Chagas disease remains poorly understood. To address this gap, we conducted a comprehensive review of the literature and assessed the evidence base from a public-health perspective. We found 89 individual documents/resources with information about .

Trypanosoma cruzi iron superoxide dismutases: insights from phylogenetics to chemotherapeutic target assessment.

Background: Components of the antioxidant defense system in Trypanosoma cruzi are potential targets for new drug development. Superoxide dismutases (SODs) constitute key components of antioxidant defense systems, removing excess superoxide anions by converting them into oxygen and hydrogen peroxide. The main goal of the present study was to investigate the genes coding for iron superoxide dismutase (FeSOD) in T.

Chagas disease in the context of the 2030 agenda: global warming and vectors.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity. Thousands of years and centuries of colonisation have passed the precarious housing conditions, food insecurity, lack of sanitation, the limitation of surveillance, health care programs and climate change. Chagas disease continues to be a public health problem.

Different profiles and epidemiological scenarios: past, present and future.

The multiplicity of epidemiological scenarios shown by Chagas Disease, derived from multiple transmission routes of the aetiological agent, occurring on multiple geo-ecobiosocial settings determines the complexity of the disease and reveal the difficulties for its control. From the first description of the link between the parasite, the vector and its domestic habitat and the disease that Carlos Chagas made in 1909, the epidemiological scenarios of the American Trypanosomiasis has shown a dynamic increasing complexity. These scenarios changed with time and geography because of new understandings of the disease from multiple studies, because of policies change at the national and international levels and because human movements brought the parasite and vectors to new geographies.

Maxicircle architecture and evolutionary insights into Trypanosoma cruzi complex.

We sequenced maxicircles from T. cruzi strains representative of the species evolutionary diversity by using long-read sequencing, which allowed us to uncollapse their repetitive regions, finding that their real lengths range from 35 to 50 kb. T.

TriatoDex, an electronic identification key to the Triatominae (Hemiptera: Reduviidae), vectors of Chagas disease: Development, description, and performance.

Correct identification of triatomine bugs is crucial for Chagas disease surveillance, yet available taxonomic keys are outdated, incomplete, or both. Here we present TriatoDex, an Android app-based pictorial, annotated, polytomous key to the Triatominae. TriatoDex was developed using Android Studio and tested by 27 Brazilian users.

Occurrence of Panstrongylus megistus (Burmeister, 1835) in an area under entomological surveillance in the Southeast Region of Brazil.

Introduction: Panstrongylus megistus is the main triatomine involved in the human transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi in Minas Gerais, Brazil. We analyzed the occurrence of triatomines in the Itaúna micro-regions for healthcare.

Methods: Data were collected as part of routine entomological surveillance activities, including the species identity, capture site, developmental stage, and trypanosome infection.

Comparison of phenol-chloroform and a commercial deoxyribonucleic acid extraction kit for identification of bloodmeal sources from triatomines (Hemiptera: Reduviidae).

Introduction: Knowledge of triatomine bloodmeal sources is essential for understanding vector-host interactions in Trypanosoma cruzi transmission cycles. Expensive commercial deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) extraction kits are widely used for bloodmeal identification. This study assessed the performance of an inexpensive phenol-chloroform DNA extraction protocol for identification of triatomine bloodmeal sources, comparing it with a commercially available kit.

Fast recovery of house infestation with Triatoma brasiliensis after residual insecticide spraying in a semiarid region of Northeastern Brazil.

The northeastern semiarid region stands out in the Brazilian context regarding the eco-epidemiology of Chagas disease, in which Triatoma brasiliensis is the main vector of Trypanosoma cruzi. Persistent house invasion threatens the relative levels of progress achieved over previous decades. We conducted an intervention trial with a five-year follow-up to assess the impacts of residual spraying with pyrethroid insecticides on house infestation with T.

Synanthropic triatomines (Hemiptera: Reduviidae): infestation, colonization, and natural infection by trypanosomatids in the State of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.

Introduction: The ecoepidemiological situation in the State of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil is characterized by frequent invasion and colonization of domiciliary units (DUs) by several triatomine species, with high rates of natural infection by Trypanosoma cruzi. METHODS: We evaluated the possibility of vector transmission of T. cruzi based on records of the occurrence of domiciled triatomines collected by the Secretariat of State for Public Health from 2005 to 2015.

Nanopore Sequencing Significantly Improves Genome Assembly of the Protozoan Parasite Trypanosoma cruzi.

Chagas disease was described by Carlos Chagas, who first identified the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi from a 2-year-old girl called Berenice. Many T. cruzi sequencing projects based on short reads have demonstrated that genome assembly and downstream comparative analyses are extremely challenging in this species, given that half of its genome is composed of repetitive sequences.

Triatoma brasiliensis Neiva, 1911: food sources and diversity of Trypanosoma cruzi in wild and artificial environments of the semiarid region of Ceará, northeastern Brazil.

Background: Knowledge of triatomine food sources in different ecotopes enables the estimation of T. cruzi transmission risk in diverse environments, as well as its dynamics of dispersion and ecological niche. For Triatoma brasiliensis in the Caatinga, in the northeast of Brazil, seasonal differences influence feeding eclecticism and rates of T.

Triatoma costalimai (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) in and Around Houses of Tocantins State, Brazil, 2005-2014.

Triatoma costalimai Verano & Galvão, a little-known vector of Trypanosoma cruzi Chagas, occupies rocky environments in the Brazilian Cerrado and occasionally infests man-made habitats. Entomological surveillance records show that T. costalimai occurs fairly often inside and around houses in south-eastern Tocantins, Brazil, with 859 specimens reported in 2005-2014.

TriatoKey: a web and mobile tool for biodiversity identification of Brazilian triatomine species.

Unlabelled: Triatomines are blood-sucking insects that transmit the causative agent of Chagas disease, Trypanosoma cruzi. Despite being recognized as a difficult task, the correct taxonomic identification of triatomine species is crucial for vector control in Latin America, where the disease is endemic. In this context, we have developed a web and mobile tool based on PostgreSQL database to help healthcare technicians to overcome the difficulties to identify triatomine vectors when the technical expertise is missing.

Does Triatoma brasiliensis occupy the same environmental niche space as Triatoma melanica?

Background: Triatomines (Hemiptera, Reduviidae) are vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease, one of the most important vector-borne diseases in Latin America. This study compares the environmental niche spaces of Triatoma brasiliensis and Triatoma melanica using ecological niche modelling and reports findings on DNA barcoding and wing geometric morphometrics as tools for the identification of these species.

Methods: We compared the geographic distribution of the species using generalized linear models fitted to elevation and current data on land surface temperature, vegetation cover and rainfall recorded by earth observation satellites for northeastern Brazil.

Species of the subfamily Triatominae Jeannel, 1919 (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) present in the Collection of Chagas Disease Vectors (FIOCRUZ-COLVEC), State of Minas Gerais.

Introduction: Biological collections are depositories of information on different species and contribute to the knowledge, protection, conservation and maintenance of biodiversity.

Methods: A list of triatomine species currently included in the Collection of Chagas Disease Vectors (FIOCRUZ-COLVEC) was prepared from the database made available by the Reference Center on Environmental Information.

Results: COLVEC curatorship houses 4,778 specimens of triatomines, of which 811 come from other American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, the United States of America, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela) and 3,967 are autochthonous from Brazil.

Domestic, peridomestic and wild hosts in the transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi in the Caatinga area colonised by Triatoma brasiliensis.

The role played by different mammal species in the maintenance of Trypanosoma cruzi is not constant and varies in time and place. This study aimed to characterise the importance of domestic, wild and peridomestic hosts in the transmission of T. cruzi in Tauá, state of Ceará, Caatinga area, Brazil, with an emphasis on those environments colonised by Triatoma brasiliensis.

Spraying food sources with pyrethroid to control peridomestic triatomines.

Introduction: We attempted to supplement traditional insecticide spraying by treating peridomiciliar food sources with a powder formulation.

Methods: Two groups of houses were treated with deltamethrin suspension concentrate (SC), one of which had its primary peridomestic food sources treated with deltamethrin 2P.

Results: Triatoma brasiliensis was the most commonly captured triatomine.

Feeding behavior of Triatoma vitticeps (Reduviidae: Triatominae) in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the feeding behavior of Triatoma vitticeps through the identification of its food sources and the characterization of the blood ingestion process. In addition, we aimed to verify if the saliva of this vector interferes with the perception of the host during the feedings by creating a nervous impulse. Here, we demonstrated that the T.

Analysis of the geographical distribution of Triatoma vitticeps (Stål, 1859) based on data of species occurrence in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

The purpose of this study was to determine the potential for infestation of man-made environments by Triatoma vitticeps, correlating the epidemiological importance of this species with that of others present in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. In addition, climatic variables that could help explain the distribution of this species and clarify its population dynamics were sought. This was done by carrying out a historical survey of the presence of T.

Population dynamics of Triatoma vitticeps (Stål, 1859) in Itanhomi, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Taxonomic markers (head structure morphometry, isoenzymes and randon amplified polymorphism of DNA - RAPD) were used to understand the population dynamics of Triatoma vitticeps, predominant triatomine species in Itanhomi district, using samples obtained from domestic, peridomiciliary and sylvatic habitats. Morphometric analysis revealed sexual dimorphism within the three samples although specimens could not be separated according to the habitat in which they were captured. Forty-two bands were analyzed from RAPD profiles generated using four primers.