Trypanosoma cruzi-infected Panstrongylus geniculatus and Rhodnius robustus adults invade households in the Tropics of Cochabamba region of Bolivia.

Mirko Rojas-Cortez,Daniel Lozano,Maria-Jesus Pinazo,Seyla Gamboa,Faustino Torrico,Lineth Garcia,Joaquim Gascon,Carolina Mejía,Fernando A Monteiro,Mery Arteaga,Liliana Uriona

doi:10.1186/s13071-016-1445-1

Abstract

BackgroundThere are hardly any data available on the relationships between the parasite and the vector or regarding potential reservoirs involved in the natural transmission cycle of Trypanosoma cruzi in the Tropics of Cochabamba, Bolivia. Local families from communities were responsible for the capture of triatomine specimens, following a strategic methodology based on entomological surveillance with community participation developed by the National Chagas Programme of the Ministry of Health of Bolivia.FindingsWe describe the collection of adult Panstrongylus geniculatus and Rhodnius robustus naturally infected with Trypanosoma cruzi from houses and from the hospital of Villa Tunari municipality. The flagellates found in the digestive tract of P. geniculatus belong to genetic lineages or DTUs TcI and TcIII, whereas only lineage DTU TcI was found in R. robustus. The detection of these vectors infected with T. cruzi reveals the vulnerability of local communities.ConclusionThe results presented here highlight the risk of Chagas disease transmission in a region previously thought not to be endemic, indicating that the Tropics of Cochabamba should be placed under permanent entomological and epidemiological surveillance.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-016-1445-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Highlights

There are hardly any data available on the relationships between the parasite and the vector or regarding potential reservoirs involved in the natural transmission cycle of Trypanosoma cruzi in the Tropics of Cochabamba, Bolivia
The results presented here highlight the risk of Chagas disease transmission in a region previously thought not to be endemic, indicating that the Tropics of Cochabamba should be placed under permanent entomological and epidemiological surveillance
Twenty-one households were positive for the presence of two triatomine species: P. geniculatus and R. robustus (Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

There are hardly any data available on the relationships between the parasite and the vector or regarding potential reservoirs involved in the natural transmission cycle of Trypanosoma cruzi in the Tropics of Cochabamba, Bolivia. Of the 17 currently recognized triatomine species that occur in Bolivia, only Triatoma infestans fulfills the above definition, being responsible for 80 % of vector-borne Chagas disease transmission in endemic areas such as the mesothermal valleys and the Chaco [2]. Other native vectors are often reported in Bolivia, including Triatoma sordida and Panstrongylus megistus in the valleys, and Rhodnius stali, R. robustus, Panstrongylus rufotuberculatus and P. geniculatus in the Amazon region and Yungas [3,4,5]. The Amazon region and the Yungas have not been considered endemic for Chagas disease. Several studies have documented the presence of Rhodnius specimens in palm trees close to rural households both in the Yungas region, La Paz Department, and in the Cochabamba Tropic region [4, 5]

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