Dynamics of food sources, ecotypic distribution and Trypanosoma cruzi infection in Triatoma brasiliensis from the northeast of Brazil

• Published in: PLoS neglected tropical diseases 2020-09, Vol.14 (9), p.e0008735-e0008735
• Main Authors: Lilioso, Maurício, Reigada, Carolina, Pires-Silva, Dayane, Fontes, Fernanda von H M, Limeira, Cleanne, Monsalve-Lara, Jackeline, Folly-Ramos, Elaine, Harry, Myriam, Costa, Jane, Almeida, Carlos Eduardo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Arid regions; Arid zones; Authorship; Biology and Life Sciences; Blood; Brazil; Cats - parasitology; Chagas disease; Chagas Disease - transmission; Cytochrome; Cytochrome b; Cytochromes; Cytochromes b - genetics; Deoxyribonucleic acid; Disease control; Disease Reservoirs; Disease transmission; Distribution; DNA; DNA sequencing; Ecology and Environmental Sciences; Ecotype; Epidemics; Feeding Behavior; Food; Food and nutrition; Food sources; Foods; Funding; Gene sequencing; Goats; Goats - parasitology; Habitats; Health aspects; Hypotheses; Identification; Infections; Infestation; Insect carriers of disease; Insect Vectors - parasitology; Insects; Kissing bug; Life Sciences; Medicine and Health Sciences; Midgut; Mitochondria; Occupancy; Populations; Rodentia - parasitology; Rodents; Semi arid areas; Semiarid lands; Transmission; Triatoma; Triatoma - parasitology; Triatoma - physiology; Tropical diseases; Trypanosoma cruzi; Trypanosoma cruzi - isolation & purification; Vector-borne diseases; Vectors; Vertebrates
• ISSN: 1935-2735; 1935-2727; 1935-2735
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0008735

Innovative approaches used to combat Chagas disease transmission tend to combine a set of comprehensive efforts to understand the ecology of local vectors. In this work we identified molecularly the blood meal of 181 Triatoma brasiliensis, distributed in 18 populations (8 sylvatic and 10 peridomestic), which were collected across a range of 240 km (East-West) and 95 km (North-South) in the semi-arid region of northeastern, Brazil. We used the vertebrate mitochondrial gene (cytochrome B) sequencing applied to DNA isolated from bug midgut to identify the insect blood meal sources via the BLAST procedure. The peridomestic populations were classified according to two main hypotheses of site-occupancy for T. brasiliensis: the first says that the infestation is mainly driven by structures that resemble its natural habitat (stony-like ecotopes) and the second assumes that it is associated with key-hosts (rodents and goats). Rodents of the Caviidae family (Galea spixii and Kerodon rupestris) were identified as the key-host of T. brasiliensis, but also the potential Trypanosoma cruzi reservoir-able to connect the sylvatic and domestic T. cruzi cycle. Cats also deserve to be studied better, as potential T. cruzi reservoirs. By modeling the food sources + site-occupancy + T. cruzi natural infection, we identified man-made ecotopes suitable for forming dense triatomine infestations with high rates of T. cruzi natural infection, which may be taken into account for vector control measures.