The role played by different mammal species in the maintenance of Trypanosoma cruzi is not constant and varies in time and place. This study aimed to characterise the importance of domestic, wild and peridomestic hosts in the transmission of T. cruzi in Tauá, state of Ceará, Caatinga area, Brazil, with an emphasis on those environments colonised by Triatoma brasiliensis. Direct parasitological examinations were performed on insects and mammals, serologic tests were performed on household and outdoor mammals and multiplex polymerase chain reaction was used on wild mammals. Cytochrome b was used as a food source for wild insects. The serum prevalence in dogs was 38% (20/53), while in pigs it was 6% (2/34). The percentages of the most abundantly infected wild animals were as follows: Thrichomys laurentius 74% (83/112) and Kerodon rupestris 10% (11/112). Of the 749 triatomines collected in the household research, 49.3% (369/749) were positive for T. brasiliensis, while 6.8% were infected with T. cruzi (25/369). In captured animals, T. brasiliensis shares a natural environment with T. laurentius, K. rupestris, Didelphis albiventris, Monodelphis domestica, Galea spixii, Wiedomys pyrrhorhinos, Conepatus semistriatus and Mus musculus. In animals identified via their food source, T. brasiliensis shares a natural environment with G. spixii, K. rupestris, Capra hircus, Gallus gallus, Tropidurus oreadicus and Tupinambis merianae. The high prevalence of T. cruzi in household and peridomiciliar animals reinforces the narrow relationship between the enzootic cycle and humans in environments with T. brasiliensis and characterises it as ubiquitous.

<p>A frequência dos acidentes causados por aracnídeos tem crescido ao longo dos anos e a maioria dos acidentes reportados não apresenta identificação das espécies causadoras, contribuindo assim para a subnotificação dos dados. No Estado do Ceará, informações específicas sobre acidentes com notificações completas ou descrição dos acidentes são escassos. No presente trabalho, os dados sobre acidentes com aranhas e escorpiões no Estado do Ceará do período de 2010 a 2015 foram confrontados com a distribuição geográfica baseada em dados existentes nas principais coleções científicas brasileiras de aracnídeos. Foi observado um aumento do número de acidentes causados por aranhas e escorpiões, principalmente em 2013 para escorpiões e um constante número de municípios reportaram acidentes escorpiônicos para o período. De acordo com o Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação - SINAN, no Estado do Ceará, muitos casos foram atribuídos a Phoneutria sp., Loxosceles sp. e Latrodectus sp., contudo essa ocorrência não está correlacionada com sua distribuição geográfica existente nas coleções de aracnídeos. Desse modo, o conhecimento da distribuição geográfica das espécies de interesse em saúde combinados com registros devidamente notificados podem contribuir para redução dos números de acidentes e para o desenvolvimento de políticas voltadas para saúde pública.</p><p><strong>Palavras chave</strong>: Araneismo, Escorpionismo, Casos Notificados, Nordeste Brasileiro.</p><p><strong>Accidents caused by spiders and scorpions in the state of Ceará, northeastern Brazil: Under-notified and overestimated cases based on the geographic distribution of the species</strong></p><p><strong>Abstract</strong>: The accidents caused by arachnids have increased its frequency along the years and the majority of accidents reports do not contain species identification, contributing to underreporting of data. In Ceará state, specific information about accidents with full notifications or accident description are scarce. In this present study, data about accidents involving spiders and scorpions in Ceará state from 2010 to 2015 period were correlated with geographic distribution based on data from main Brazilian scientific collections of arachnids. An increased number of accidents caused by spiders and scorpions was observed, mainly in 2013 for scorpions, and a constant number of municipalities reported scorpionic accidents to this period. According to Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação - SINAN, in Ceará state, many cases were credited to Phoneutria sp., Loxosceles sp., and Latrodectus sp., whoever this occurrence is not correlated with their geographic distribution supported on arachnid collections data. Therefore, knowledge on species geographic distribution with public health significance combined with properly notified records can contribute to reduction of accidents numbers and development of politics aimed to public health.</p><p><strong>Key words</strong>: Araneism, Scorpionism, Underreporting cases, Northeast Brazil.<strong><br /></strong></p>

Scorpions are venomous synanthropic arachnids, in 2019 they were responsible for more than 37000 cases of envenomation in the state of Ceará, Northeastern Brazil. To update the knowledge about the scorpiofauna in Ceará, a distribution list of scorpions collected/received by municipal agents of the Health Surveillance Service was performed in 165 municipalities (89%) of Ceará (2018 – 2019) and deposited in the Dr. Thomaz Corrêa Aragão Entomology Laboratory scientific collection, including species distribution maps and ecological data. This study included a total of 999 scorpions from two families (Buthidae and Bothriuridae) and eleven species. The most abundant species were: Tityus stigmurus (40.1%), Jaguajir rochae (37.2%), Bothriurus asper (8.3%) and Bothriurus rochai (6.7%), mainly inhabiting municipalities in the Caatinga biome. The first record of Tityus confluens and Tityus maranhensis in the Sobral mesoregion is herein presented, expanding the distribution of these species in Brazil.

A 44-year-old healthy farmer, was stung by a scorpion on his right hand while preparing soil for planting in the Caatinga area (a large area in the north-east of Brazil characterized by semiarid scrub forest), in the Catarina Municipality countryside, Ceará State, Brazil. According to the reports of carers and family members, the patient initially reported mild pain at the site of the sting, but within a few minutes he developed malaise, pruritus in the body and throat, edema in the nostrils, and a dry mouth which led to looking for water to drink. It rapidlyevolved into sphincter, urinary and fecal release, salivation and a convulsive episode with loss of the senses. He was dead on arrival at Catarina Municipality Hospital emergency department.The necroscopic report indicated suffocation due to glottal edema and acute lung edema as the “cause of death”. The animal which caused the accident was under a rock that the patient was manipulating at the time of the incident, and has been identified by experts as Jaguajir rochae (Borelli, 1910) scorpion species, formerly synonymized Rhopalurus rochae. This is the first report of a fatality due to an allergic reaction to the venom of this species. This leads to the possibility that deaths caused by stings from other scorpion species may be due to anaphylaxis, whose symptoms in some situations may be confused with severe envenomation. KEY WORDS: Jaguajir rochae; scorpionism; anaphylaxis; allergy

Snakebites represent an important, though neglected, public health problem especially in the Northeast of Brazil. There is still a large number of underreported cases, the collection of epidemiological data is deficient, and the ecological and epidemiological knowledge of this envenomation remains limited due to the lack of updated regional and local information. This study describes the epidemiological profile of snakebites recorded by the Notifiable Diseases Information System from 2008 to 2018 in the state of Ceará. The data were organized according to the municipalities of the health macro-regions, considering the variables: sex, snake, gravity and deaths. A total of 8,233 cases was found, with an annual incidence of 8.6/100,000 inhabitants, and a higher prevalence of accidents caused by Bothrops snakes (64%), in men (87.4%) in the Sobral region (25.5%). However, the highest incidence rate was found in the Sertão Central (299.7/100,000). Most cases were considered mild (62%), but the mortality rate was 0.07/100,000 and the case-fatality rate was 0.8%. Among the most affected municipalities, cities like Tauá (1.3%), Sobral (8.1%) and Fortaleza (8.5%) are concerning, considering that the case-fatality rates were above the national average (1%). Snakebites in Ceará follow a pattern similar to that of other states in the Northeast, with a high frequency of incidents where the causative snake is not identified (16%). Considering the gravity of snakebites, studies that evaluate the anthropic and environmental influence in the distribution of cases may help to define priority risk areas, to improve health surveillance and patient care.