Modelling historical changes in the force-of-infection of Chagas disease to inform control and elimination programmes: application in Colombia.

Background: WHO's 2020 milestones for Chagas disease include having all endemic Latin American countries certified with no intradomiciliary transmission, and infected patients under care. Evaluating the variation in historical exposure to infection is crucial for assessing progress and for understanding the priorities to achieve these milestones.

Methods: Focusing on Colombia, all the available age-structured serological surveys (undertaken between 1995 and 2014) were searched and compiled.

[Risk of transmission of Chagas disease by intrusion of triatomines and wild mammals in Bucaramanga, Santander, Colombia].

Introduction: Notice of triatomines in dwellings of some neighborhoods in Bucaramanga motivated the realization of this study.Objetive: To evaluate the intrusion of triatomines and mammals, as well as some risk factors in urban dwellings.

Materials And Methods: Triatomines were collected in a neighborhood in Bucaramanga, Santander, on a monthly basis during one year with participation of the community.

[Diversity of Triatominae (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) in Santander, Colombia: Epidemiological implications].

Introduction: Domestic and wild triatomines in the department of Santander have an epidemiological impact, as recently they have been linked to outbreaks of acute Chagas disease. The analysis of their diversity and temporal variation contributes to the understanding of their biology and ecology in one of the most endemic areas of the country.

Objectives: To analyze triatominae diversity in two regions of Santander.

Geographic Distribution and Ecology of Triatoma dimidiata (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) in Colombia.

Triatoma dimidiata Latreille is the second most important vector of Chagas' disease in Colombia and is found in urban and periurban areas. From January 2007 to June 2008, we performed field work in 8 departments, 18 municipalities, and 44 rural villages, covering most of its known distribution and all of its ecological zones in the country. The goal was to determine the geographical distribution, the ecology, and house infestation indices of T.

On palms, bugs, and Chagas disease in the Americas.

Palms are ubiquitous across Neotropical landscapes, from pristine forests or savannahs to large cities. Although palms provide useful ecosystem services, they also offer suitable habitat for triatomines and for Trypanosoma cruzi mammalian hosts. Wild triatomines often invade houses by flying from nearby palms, potentially leading to new cases of human Chagas disease.

[Comparison of methods for the capture of triatomines ( Hemiptera: Reduviidae ) in Attalea butyracea palms in the Eastern Plains of Colombia].

Introduction: Studying triatominae in their natural ecotopes has great significance in the epidemiology of Chagas disease. Gathering live insects and the establishment of insectaries allows countless studies. Therefore, effective methods are needed for capturing wild triatomines, especially intrusive species such as Rhodnius prolixus .

[Attalea butyracea palms adjacent to housing as a source of infestation by Rhodnius prolixus (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)].

Introduction: The presence of Rhodnius prolixus in palms on the eastern plains area of Colombia provide a high risk for infection with Trypanosoma cruzi. Intensive surveillance of the palm tree habitat are necessary to confirm the presence of bugs and provide evidence that this habitat is a source of house infestations.

Objective: The infestation by R.

[New trap for the capture of triatomines in wild and peridomestic habitats].

Introduction: Wild triatomines have become increasingly important in the transmission of Chagas disease because of their frequent house entry behavior. Knowledge of their biology is limited, and few tools are available for their collection. These needs led to the design of a new trap for live triatomines.

Description of the cave organ in three species of the genus Belminus (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae) by optical and scanning electron microscopy.

The cave organ is a sensory receptor in the antenna pedicel of some Reduviidae. This paper describes this organ for the first time in three species of the genus Belminus, Belminus corredori, Belminus ferroae and Belminus herreri, by optical and scanning electron microscopy. The structures presented a general pattern similar to one reported for other species of Triatominae.

[Life cycle of Triatoma dimidiata latreille, 1811 (Hemiptera, Reduviidae) under laboratory conditions: production of nymphs for biological tests].

Introduction: Despite the importance of Triatoma dimidiata as a vector of Chagas disease, little is known of its life cycle and the efficient production of these insects for biological tests.

Objective: Life cycle characteristics in the laboratory were described and optimum nutritional conditions were established for the efficient production of nymphs V stage for biological tests.

Materials And Methods: We determined the time of development of the nymphal stage under controlled laboratory conditions until reaching the adult stage.

[Using ELISA for identifying Triatominae feeding behaviour in Colombia].

Objective: Standardising the ELISA technique for identifying triatomine insects' feeding behaviour.

Methods: The ELISA test was standardised by preparing 12 animal anti-specie polyclonal antisera by immunising rabbits with sera from domestic and wild animals; the sera were titred and absorbed to improve specificity. The intestinal content of fifth-instar Rhodnius prolixus (previously fed on each host) was used as positive control; negative controls were obtained from triatomines without feeding.

[Antennal phenotype variation in sylvatic, peridomestic and domestic populations of Triatoma dimidiata (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) from Santander, Colombia].

Introduction: Triatoma dimidiata is one of the widely distributed triatomines in Colombia. The phenotype of the antenna is a characteristic of populations that can differ among habitats and can give information concerning its biology and behavior. This information in turn can be used in the development of new methodological proposals for its control.

[Toxic effect of beta-cipermethrin, deltamethrin and fenitrothion in colonies of Triatoma dimidiata (Latreille, 1811) and Triatoma maculata (Erichson, 1848) (Hemiptera, Reduviidae)].

Introduction: The susceptibility to insecticides of triatomine species must be evaluated because of their involvement in the transmission of the Chagas disease. In each region with Chagas endemicity, evaluation of insecticide response is necessary to predict the success of the control campaigns.

Objective: The baseline susceptibility was determined for the active principles deltamethrin, beta-cypermethrin and fenitrothion in nymphs of first and fifth instar of Triatoma dimidiata and nymphs of first instar of Triatoma maculata.

[Lutzomyia longipalpis (Diptera: Psychodidae) at a suburban focus of visceral leishmaniasis in the Chicamocha Canyon, Santander, Colombia].

Introduction: Between 1998 and 2000, the occurrence of 8 cases of American visceral leishmaniasis in children from a recently established human settlement in Guatiguará, in the municipality of Piedecuesta (Santander, Colombia) indicated the possible presence of Leishmania transmission in this locality. This observation motivated the current entomological investigation.

Objectives: To determine the relative frequency of Lutzomyia longipalpis inside houses and outdoors, and the natural infection of this vector with Leishmania spp.

Genome size determination in chagas disease transmitting bugs (hemiptera-triatominae) by flow cytometry.

Because information about genome size in triatomines is scarce and contradictory, we performed DNA quantification by flow cytometry in 13 species belonging to five genera (Dipetalogaster, Eratyrus, Panstrongylus, Rhodnius, and Triatoma) to infer overall tendencies and phylogenetic associations. The results show that the haploid DNA content of the subfamily Triatominae varies nearly 4-fold, from<0.7 pg in Rhodnius species (0.

Analysis of antenal sensilla patterns of Rhodnius prolixus from Colombia and Venezuela.

Antennal sensilla patterns were used to analyze population variation of domestic Rhodnius prolixus from six departments and states representing three biogeographical regions of Colombia and Venezuela. Discriminant analysis of the patterns of mechanoreceptors and of three types of chemoreceptors on the pedicel and flagellar segments showed clear differentiation between R. prolixus populations east and west of the Andean Cordillera.

Lessons from a national survey of Chagas disease transmission risk in Colombia.

In recent years, there has been a revitalization of large-scale programmes to control parasitic disease in developing countries. In 1997, the Governments of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru committed themselves to replicate the cost-effective elimination of Trypanosoma cruzi transmission achieved in the Southern Cone by using insecticides against the domestic triatomine vectors (in combination with blood-bank screening). Central American Governments launched a complementary initiative.

Feeding sources and natural infection of Belminus herreri (Hemiptera, Reduviidae, Triatominae) from dwellings in Cesar, Colombia.

Belminus herreri, originally described from specimens collected in Panama, was considered entirely silvatic until to 2000 when it was found for the first time in a domestic habitat in Colombia. In 2001, during a new search of houses in the Department of Cesar, Colombia, 121 specimens were collected. Study of their feeding sources using an ELISA test revealed that 96% of these specimens had fed on cockroaches (Blattidae).

Chromosomal evolution trends of the genus Panstrongylus (Hemiptera, Reduviidae), vectors of Chagas disease.

The genus Panstrongylus includes 14 species widely distributed from Mexico to Argentina, some of them with great epidemiological significance as vectors of Chagas disease. We study the karyotype and the male meiotic process of Panstrongylus chinai, P. geniculatus, P.