Triatominae et Cactaceae : un risque pour la transmission de la Trypanosomose américaine dans le péridomicile (nord-est du Brésil)

Social Representations and Practices Towards Triatomines and Chagas Disease in Calakmul, México

Vector-borne transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi (VBTTc) is dependent on the concomitant interaction between biological and environmental hazard over the entire landscape, and human vulnerability. Representations and practices of health-disease-care-seeking and territorial appropriation and use were analyzed for VBTTc in a qualitative ethnographic study in the Zoh-Laguna landscape, Campeche, Mexico. In-depth interviews and participatory observation explored representations and practices regarding ethno-ecological knowledge related to vector-transmission, health-disease-care-seeking, and land use processes. The population has a broad knowledge of biting insects, which they believe are all most abundant in the rainy season; the community´s proximity to natural areas is perceived as a barrier to control their abundance. Triatomines are mostly recognized by men, who have detailed knowledge regarding their occurrence and association with mammals in non-domestic fragments, where they report being bitten. Women emphasize the dermal consequences of triatomine bites, but have little knowledge about the disease. Triatomine bites and the chinchoma are "normalized" events which are treated using home remedies, if at all. The neglected condition of Chagas disease in Mexican public health policies, livelihoods which are dependent on primary production, and gender-related knowledge (or lack thereof) are structural circumstances which influence the environment and inhabitants´ living conditions; in turn, these trigger triatomine-human contact. The most important landscape practices producing vulnerability are the activities and mobility within and between landscape fragments causing greater exposure of inhabitants primarily in the dry season. A landscape approach to understanding vulnerability components of VBTTc from health-disease-care-seeking perspectives and based on territorial appropriation and use, is essential where there is continuous movement of vectors between and within all habitats. An understanding of the structural factors which motivate the population´s perceptions, beliefs, and practices and which create and maintain vulnerability is essential to develop culturally relevant and sustainable community-based VBTTc prevention and control.

A common Caatinga cactus, Pilosocereus gounellei, is an important ecotope of wild Triatoma brasiliensis populations in the Jaguaribe valley of northeastern Brazil

Triatoma brasiliensis is the most important vector of Chagas disease in the Caatinga eco-region of northeastern Brazil. Wild T. brasiliensis populations have been reported only from rocky outcrops. However, this species frequently infests/re-infests houses in rock-free sedimentary lowlands. We therefore hypothesized that it should also occupy other natural ecotopes. We show that a common Caatinga cactus, Pilosocereus gounellei, locally known as xiquexique, often harbors T. brasiliensis breeding colonies apparently associated with rodents (n = 44 cacti, infestation rate = 47.7%, 157 bugs captured). Our findings suggest that infested cacti might be involved in house re-infestation by T. brasiliensis in the Caatinga region.

Eco-epidemiology of Chagas disease in northeastern Brazil: Triatoma brasiliensis, T. pseudomaculata and Rhodnius nasutus in the sylvatic, peridomestic and domestic environments

An entomological survey was carried out in four rural localities situated in the state of Ceará, assessing Chagas disease seroprevalence in man, focusing on the presence of vectors in natural foci contiguous to the domestic and peridomestic environments. Fifty-three Triatoma brasiliensis, nine T. pseudomaculata and 71 Rhodnius nasutus were collected in their natural habitats as far as 10 m from the houses, and 663, 59 and 8 respectively were captured in peridomestic artificial structures, adjacent to the houses, including henhouses, pigpens, corrals, perches and piles of bricks, tiles and wood. Within the households, 37 T. brasiliensis, one specimen of T. pseudomaculata and one of R. nasutus were captured. Overall, Trypanosoma cruzi infection rates were 2.3% for T. brasiliensis and 11.3% for R. nasutus. Despite that the seroprevalence survey in man did not reveal positive results using two serological techniques, natural triatomine habitats are juxtaposed to man-made artificial ecotopes, resulting in overlapping habitats. The contiguity between natural ecotopes and human dwellings increases the interaction between vectors and humans, challenging continuous surveillance and vector control efforts.

Predicting the potential geographical distribution of Rhodnius neglectus (Hemiptera, Reduviidae) based on ecological niche modeling

Rhodnius neglectus is frequently found in palm trees and bird nests in sylvatic environments. However, adult specimens infected by Trypanosoma cruzi have been invading houses in central Brazil. Analyzing and predicting the geographical distribution of this species may improve vector surveillance strategies for Chagas disease. Ecological niche modeling using the genetic algorithm for rule-set production (GARP) was applied to predict the geographical distribution of R. neglectus from occurrence records and a set of 23 predictor variables (e.g., temperature, precipitation, altitude, and vegetation). Additionally, the geographical distribution of R. neglectus was compared with the geographical distribution of four species of palm trees and two species of birds from the study region. The models were able to predict, with high probability, the occurrence of R. neglectus as a regular (although nonendemic) species of the Cerrado biome in central Brazil. Caatinga, Amazonian savanna, Pantanal, and the Bolivian Chaco appear as areas with lower probabilities of potential occurrence for the species. A great overlap was observed between the distribution of R. neglectus, palm trees (Acrocomia aculeata and Syagrus oleracea), and birds (Phacellodomus ruber and Pseudoseisura cristata). By including new records for R. neglectus (from both sylvatic and domestic environments), our study showed a distribution increase toward the west and northeast areas of Brazil in the "diagonal of open/dry ecoregions of South America". These results should aid Chagas disease vector surveillance programs, given that household invasion by Rhodnius species maintains the risk of disease transmission and limits control strategies.