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Delgado-Noguera LA, Hernández-Pereira CE, Ramírez JD, Hernández C, Velasquez-Ortíz N, Clavijo J, Ayala JM, Forero-Peña D, Marquez M, Suarez MJ, Traviezo-Valles L, Escalona MA, Perez-Garcia L, Carpio IM, Sordillo EM, Grillet ME, Llewellyn MS, Gabaldón JC, Paniz Mondolfi AE. Tele-entomology and tele-parasitology: A citizen science-based approach for surveillance and control of Chagas disease in Venezuela. Parasite Epidemiol Control 2022; 19:e00273. [PMID: 36118050 PMCID: PMC9475302 DOI: 10.1016/j.parepi.2022.e00273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2022] [Revised: 06/03/2022] [Accepted: 09/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Chagas Disease (CD), a chronic infection caused by the Trypanosoma cruzi parasite, is a Neglected Tropical Disease endemic to Latin America. With a re-emergence in Venezuela during the past two decades, the spread of CD has proved susceptible to, and inhibitable by a digital, real-time surveillance system effectuated by Citizen Scientists in communities throughout the country. The #TraeTuChipo (#BringYourKissingBug) campaign implemented in January 2020, has served as such a strategy counting on community engagement to define the current ecological distribution of CD vectors despite the absence of a functional national surveillance program. This pilot campaign collected data through online surveys, social media platforms, and/or telephone text messages. A total of 79 triatomine bugs were reported from eighteen Venezuelan states; 67 bugs were identified as Panstrongylus geniculatus, 1 as Rhodnius pictipes, 1 as Triatoma dimidiata, and 10 as Triatoma maculata. We analyzed 8 triatomine feces samples spotted from 4 Panstrongylus geniculatus which were confirmed positive by qPCR for T. cruzi . Further molecular characterization of discrete typing units (DTUs), revealed that all samples contained TcI, the most highly diverse and broadly distributed strain of T. cruzi. Moreover, analysis of the mitochondrial 12S gene revealed Myotis keaysi, Homo sapiens, and Gallus gallus as the main triatomine feeding sources. This study highlights a novel Citizen Science approach which may help improve the surveillance systems for CD in endemic countries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lourdes A. Delgado-Noguera
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas IDB/Emerging Pathogens Network-Incubadora Venezolana de la Ciencia, Cabudare, Venezuela
- Departamento de Ciencias de la Salud, Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Centroccidental Lisandro Alvarado, Barquisimeto, Lara, Venezuela
| | - Carlos E. Hernández-Pereira
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas IDB/Emerging Pathogens Network-Incubadora Venezolana de la Ciencia, Cabudare, Venezuela
- Departamento de Ciencias de la Salud, Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Centroccidental Lisandro Alvarado, Barquisimeto, Lara, Venezuela
| | - Juan David Ramírez
- Centro de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Biotecnología-UR (CIMBIUR), Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia
- Department of Pathology, Molecular and Cell-Based Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Carolina Hernández
- Centro de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Biotecnología-UR (CIMBIUR), Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Natalia Velasquez-Ortíz
- Centro de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Biotecnología-UR (CIMBIUR), Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - José Clavijo
- Museo del Instituto de Zoología Agrícola “Francisco Fernández Yépez” (MIZA), Universidad Central de Venezuela, Aragua, Venezuela
| | | | - David Forero-Peña
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas IDB/Emerging Pathogens Network-Incubadora Venezolana de la Ciencia, Cabudare, Venezuela
| | - Marilianna Marquez
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas IDB/Emerging Pathogens Network-Incubadora Venezolana de la Ciencia, Cabudare, Venezuela
- Departamento de Ciencias de la Salud, Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Centroccidental Lisandro Alvarado, Barquisimeto, Lara, Venezuela
| | - Maria J. Suarez
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas IDB/Emerging Pathogens Network-Incubadora Venezolana de la Ciencia, Cabudare, Venezuela
- Departamento de Ciencias de la Salud, Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Centroccidental Lisandro Alvarado, Barquisimeto, Lara, Venezuela
| | - Luis Traviezo-Valles
- Departamento de Ciencias de la Salud, Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Centroccidental Lisandro Alvarado, Barquisimeto, Lara, Venezuela
- Sección de Parasitología Médica (UNIPARME), Departamento de Ciencias de la Salud, Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Centroccidental Lisandro Alvarado, Barquisimeto, Lara, Venezuela
| | - Maria Alejandra Escalona
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas IDB/Emerging Pathogens Network-Incubadora Venezolana de la Ciencia, Cabudare, Venezuela
- Departamento de Ciencias de la Salud, Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Centroccidental Lisandro Alvarado, Barquisimeto, Lara, Venezuela
| | - Luis Perez-Garcia
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas IDB/Emerging Pathogens Network-Incubadora Venezolana de la Ciencia, Cabudare, Venezuela
- Departamento de Ciencias de la Salud, Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Centroccidental Lisandro Alvarado, Barquisimeto, Lara, Venezuela
| | - Isis Mejias Carpio
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas IDB/Emerging Pathogens Network-Incubadora Venezolana de la Ciencia, Cabudare, Venezuela
- Global WASH, Houston, TX, USA
- Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group (WaSRAG), TX, USA
| | - Emilia M. Sordillo
- Department of Pathology, Molecular and Cell-Based Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Maria E. Grillet
- Laboratorio de Biología de Vectores y Parásitos, Instituto de Zoología y Ecología Tropical, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela
| | - Martin S. Llewellyn
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health & Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
| | - Juan C. Gabaldón
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas IDB/Emerging Pathogens Network-Incubadora Venezolana de la Ciencia, Cabudare, Venezuela
- Barcelona Institute of Global Health (ISGlobal), Hospital Clinical, University of Navarra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Alberto E. Paniz Mondolfi
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas IDB/Emerging Pathogens Network-Incubadora Venezolana de la Ciencia, Cabudare, Venezuela
- Department of Pathology, Molecular and Cell-Based Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health & Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
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Gurgel-Gonçalves R, Abad-Franch F, de Almeida MR, Obara MT, de Souza RDCM, Batista JADS, Rocha DDA. TriatoDex, an electronic identification key to the Triatominae (Hemiptera: Reduviidae), vectors of Chagas disease: Development, description, and performance. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0248628. [PMID: 33886550 PMCID: PMC8061935 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0248628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2020] [Accepted: 03/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
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. Each user received a box with pinned, number-labeled, adult triatomines (33 species in total) and was asked to identify each bug to the species level. We used generalized linear mixed models (with user- and species-ID random effects) and information-theoretic model evaluation/averaging to investigate TriatoDex performance. TriatoDex encompasses 79 questions and 554 images of the 150 triatomine-bug species described worldwide up to 2017. TriatoDex-based identification was correct in 78.9% of 824 tasks. TriatoDex performed better in the hands of trained taxonomists (93.3% vs. 72.7% correct identifications; model-averaged, adjusted odds ratio 5.96, 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.09–11.48). In contrast, user age, gender, primary job (including academic research/teaching or disease surveillance), workplace (including universities, a reference laboratory for triatomine-bug taxonomy, or disease-surveillance units), and basic training (from high school to biology) all had negligible effects on TriatoDex performance. Our analyses also suggest that, as TriatoDex results accrue to cover more taxa, they may help pinpoint triatomine-bug species that are consistently harder (than average) to identify. In a pilot comparison with a standard, printed key (370 tasks by seven users), TriatoDex performed similarly (84.5% correct assignments, CI 68.9–94.0%), but identification was 32.8% (CI 24.7–40.1%) faster on average–for a mean absolute saving of ~2.3 minutes per bug-identification task. TriatoDex holds much promise as a handy, flexible, and reliable tool for triatomine-bug identification; an updated iOS/Android version is under development. We expect that, with continuous refinement derived from evolving knowledge and user feedback, TriatoDex will substantially help strengthen both entomological surveillance and research on Chagas disease vectors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodrigo Gurgel-Gonçalves
- Laboratório de Parasitologia Médica e Biologia de Vetores, Área de Patologia, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, Brazil
- Faculdade de Medicina, Núcleo de Medicina Tropical, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, Brazil
- * E-mail:
| | - Fernando Abad-Franch
- Faculdade de Medicina, Núcleo de Medicina Tropical, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, Brazil
| | | | - Marcos Takashi Obara
- Faculdade de Medicina, Núcleo de Medicina Tropical, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, Brazil
- Faculdade de Ceilândia, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, Brazil
| | | | | | - Douglas de Almeida Rocha
- Laboratório de Parasitologia Médica e Biologia de Vetores, Área de Patologia, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, Brazil
- Faculdade de Medicina, Núcleo de Medicina Tropical, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, Brazil
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