Implementation science : epidemiology and feeding profiles of the Chagas vector Triatoma Dimidiata prior to Ecohealth intervention for three locations in Central America
Date
2018-11
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
Abstract
Blood feeding insects from the subfamily Triatomine are involved in the transmission of Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, a neglected tropical disease endemic from southern Mexico through Central to northern South America. Chagas disease mostly affects rural areas and especially people living in houses made of lowcost, natural materials such as bajareque or adobe that have mud walls and a dirt floor. A multidisciplinary data-driven Ecohealth vector control program that includes house improvements (wall plastering and cement flooring), as well as insecticide spraying, was developed in Jutiapa department, Guatemala, and has been shown to decrease vectorhuman contact. Because Chagas vectors feed on a wide variety of vertebrates, knowing the local feeding profiles of the insect vectors before interventions can strengthen Ecohealth program development. To facilitate scaling up the Ecohealth program developed in Jutiapa to three new locations in three different countries, Texistepeque, El Salvador; San Marcos de la Sierra, Honduras and Olopa, Guatemala, and with distinct ecological scenarios, we assessed the entomological indices, feeding profiles and parasite infection of vectors collected in and around houses in the new locations prior to any interventions. Our results show all three metrics varied among locations. The results highlight the importance of domestic, synanthropic and sylvatic blood meal sources on the disease transmission cycle and the need to consider local conditions for vector control.
Description
This work was supported with a subsidy of the Ecohealth Initiative Program of the Center of Investigations for the Development of Canada (IDRC)(Subsidy no 106531) to Carlota Monroy; a grant from the World Health Organization (Tropical Disease Research-World Health Organization grant, TDR –WHO ID# A10249) awarded to MCM, by National Science Foundation (NSF) grant BCS-1216193 as part of the joint NSF-NIH-USDA
(United States Department of Agriculture) Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases program to MCM and LS and grant R03AI26268/1-2 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to LS. This article was drafted and reviewed during the scientific writing workshop organized by the
Program Disease Research, Department of Communicable Diseases and Health Analysis, Pan American Health Organization to support the dissemination of research funded by IDRC conducted with Ecohealth approach. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the
manuscript.
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Journal Article (peer-reviewed)
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Keywords
INFESTATION AND COLONIZATION INDICES, BLOOD FEEDING INSECTS, CHAGAS DISEASE, TRYPANOSOMA CRUZI, BAJAREQUE OR ADOBE MUD WALLS, DOMESTIC BLOOD MEALS SOURCES, SYNANTHROPIC BLOOD MEAL SOURCES, SYLVATIC BLOOD MEAL SOURCES, KISSING BUGS, INSECT VECTOR TRANSMISSION, RHODNIUS PROLIXUS, WALL PLASTERING, CEMENT FLOORING, TRIATOMA DIMIDIATA, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, EL SALVADOR
Citation
Lima-Cordon RA, Stevens L, Solorzano Ortiz E, Rodas GA, Castellanos S, Rodas A, et al. (2018) Implementation science : Epidemiology and feeding profiles of the Chagas vector Triatoma dimidiata prior to Ecohealth intervention for three locations in Central America. PloS Negl Trop Dis 12(11):e0006952. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006952