Abstract
This review deals with transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi by the most important domestic vectors, blood transfusion and oral intake. Among the vectors, Triatoma infestans, Panstrongylus megistus, Rhodnius prolixus, Triatoma dimidiata, Triatoma brasiliensis, Triatoma pseudomaculata, Triatoma sordida, Triatoma maculata, Panstrongylus geniculatus, Rhodnius ecuadoriensis and Rhodnius pallescens can be highlighted. Transmission of Chagas infection, which has been brought under control in some countries in South and Central America, remains a great challenge, particularly considering that many endemic countries do not have control over blood donors. Even more concerning is the case of non-endemic countries that receive thousands of migrants from endemic areas that carry Chagas disease, such as the United States of America, in North America, Spain, in Europe, Japan, in Asia, and Australia, in Oceania. In the Brazilian Amazon Region, since Shaw et al. (1969) described the first acute cases of the disease caused by oral transmission, hundreds of acute cases of the disease due to oral transmission have been described in that region, which is today considered to be endemic for oral transmission. Several other outbreaks of acute Chagas disease by oral transmission have been described in different states of Brazil and in other South American countries.
Highlights
This review deals with transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi by the most important domestic vectors, blood transfusion and oral intake
More than 140 species of triatomines, belonging to 19 genera and five tribes, are recognised (Galvão et al 2003), among which the main vectors for T. cruzi are in the genera Panstrongylus, Rhodnius and Triatoma
Infection by T. cruzi in triatomines, domestic and wild animals and humans was only demonstrated by Carlos Chagas in 1909 during the discovery of the disease that bears his name (Chagas 1909, 1912)
Summary
Vector transmission - The main vector of Chagas infection is Triatoma infestans (Klug 1834) in a large portion of South America, which until recently was distributed from southern Argentina to northeastern Brazil. In Brazil, T. maculata has been found in chicken coops in peridomestic areas and sporadically within homes in the state of Roraima, in the Brazilian Amazon Region This species is a potential vector for T. cruzi (Luitgards-Moura et al 2005). P. geniculatus (Latreille 1811) was found by Chagas (1912) in the burrows of the armadillo Dasipus novemcinctus, which were infected with T. cruzi, at the time of the discovery of the wild cycle of Chagas disease This species has been found in several wild and peridomestic ecotopes with incursions into human homes, presenting potential domestic adaptation (Valente et al 1998, Valente 1999). Scherlock (2000) depicted the distribution of the main vectors of T. cruzi in the Americas (Fig. 3)
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