Chagas disease in prehistory

Abstract

The classical hypothesis proposes that Chagas disease has been originated in the Andean region among prehistoric people when they started domesticating animals, changing to sedentary habits, and adopting agriculture. These changes in their way of life happened nearly 6,000 years ago. However, paleoparasitological data based on molecular tools showed that Trypanosoma cruzi infection and Chagas disease were commonly found both in South and North American prehistoric populations long before that time, suggesting that Chagas disease may be as old as the human presence in the American continent. The study of the origin and dispersion of Trypanosoma cruzi infection among prehistoric human populations may help in the comprehension of the clinical and epidemiological questions on Chagas disease that still remain unanswered.

Food, parasites, and epidemiological transitions: A broad perspective

“…Therefore, pre-Columbian people who used caves and rock-shelters were more commonly exposed to T. cruzi transmission than those living in villages. However, following European immigrations, Chagas disease transmission spread throughout the continent when Europeans, especially Portuguese, introduced mud and daub dwellings, to which Triatoma infestans, and other vector species, adapted well Ferreira et al, 2011). Chagas disease patterns thus changed and increased during colonial times, and rural intra-household transmission became characteristic of the disease.…”

“…Paleoparasitological data showed that the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi infected South American populations by 9000 years ago, first recorded in Chile's Atacama desert (Aufderheide et al, 2004). Infection was also present among inhabitants of the Brazilian lowlands 7000 years ago (Fernandes et al, 2008;Lima et al, 2008), changing the paradigm that hypothesized an origin in the Bolivian highlands Ferreira et al, 2011).…”

Prehistoric earth oven facilities and the pathoecology of Chagas disease in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands

“…Until relatively recently, paleopathologists believed that Chagas disease became a major human problem after Andean animal domestication and the domiciliation of the Chagas disease cycle. Domiciliation involved association of guinea pigs, dogs, humans, and the insect vectors in canewalled human habitations (for review see Araújo et al, 2009;Darling and Donoghue, 2014;Ferreira et al, 2011;Guhl et al, 2014;Coimbra, 1988). It had long been believed that Chagas disease only spread across the rest of Latin America during historic times.…”

Studies on protozoa in ancient remains - A Review

“…The occupation of caves and rock shelters, before dwellings were intro- duced, would also have increased the risk of infection by triatomine species adapted to live in rocks (Araújo et al 1998, Ferreira et al 2000. The T. cruzi infections described from the archaeological record were reviewed by Ferreira et al (2011) regarding the origin and spread of Chagas disease.…”