Triatoma brasiliensis Neiva, 1911 and Triatoma pseudomaculata Corrêa and Espínola, 1964 (Hemiptera, Reduviidae, Triatominae) in rural communities in Northeast Brazil

Abstract

Chagas disease is an important endemic morbidity in Latin America affecting millions of people in the American continent. It is caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi , and transmitted through the feces of the insect vector belonging to the subfamily Triatominae. The present conducted an entomological survey of triatomines and analyzed entomological indicators, such as the rate of infestation, colonization, triatomine density and natural infection in rural communities in the municipality of Campinas do Piaui, Piaui State, in the Northeast region of Brazil. Data on the search of triatomines performed in 167 domiciliary units (DUs), harvested during the period of February to July 2019, in 12 rural communities were analyzed. The capture of triatomines occurred in all studied communities, being 76 the number of positive DUs, of the 167 surveyed, presenting a global rate of infestation of 45.51%. Two triatomines species were collected: Triatoma brasiliensis (98.49%) and T. pseudomaculata (1.51%), the first was found in the domiciliary and peridomiciliary areas, while the second was captured only in peridomiciliary areas. The index of colonization was 17.1%. Natural infection was observed only in 5.44% of T. brasiliensis samples. The entomological survey was conducted in rural communities, showingthe risk of transmission of Chagas disease to the local population, requiring continuous entomological surveillance and vector control.

Spatial analysis of the natural infection index for Triatomines and the risk of Chagas disease transmission in Northeastern Brazil

“…The T. brasiliensis and T. pseudomaculata species were the most frequent in the study, indicating their vector potential in endemic regions, especially in or near households in rural areas 2 , 29 . In our study, these vectors were naturally infected in the Agreste and Sertao regions; these results are consistent with results from other studies conducted in Northeastern Brazil 29 , 30 .…”

“…In our study, 7,302 vector insects were collected between January 2016 and December 2018; however, we detected only a small number of P. megistus . This result corroborates results of previous studies conducted in the Northeastern region 29 , 30 and differs from studies conducted in the Southeastern 32 and Southern regions of Brazil 16 . This may be related to the chemical control used to eliminate triatomines in the household environments in the various regions 33 ; however, the NNI for Trypanosoma sp.…”

“…The physiogeographic characteristics of these areas (Zone 2) are favorable for the presence of the triatomine species typical of the semi-arid territory and the Caatinga. The activities that constitute the primary sector of the economy of the Sertao and Agreste regions (i.e., livestock and subsistence agriculture) are conducted in an area with a high density of triatomines, thereby enabling the presence of these vector species in households and surrounding niches 30 , 35 . The municipalities with higher mortality rates also showed the highest rates of chronic diseases, with patterns of homogeneity observed in the Zona da Mata and Sertao 38 regions.…”

Triatominae (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) fauna in bird nests: the case of Morrinhos, Ceará, Brazil

“…In the wild, T. pseudomaculata occurs mainly in tree barks and shelters of rodents and marsupials (Sarquis et al 2012). Its presence is also constantly recorded in peridomestic attachments, particularly in chicken coops, and occasionally there are invasions into households (Ferreira et al 2020). Analysis of secondary data from Ceará demonstrates that despite the reduction observed in the number of T. pseudomaculata collected peri- and intra-domiciliary over the past 20 years, it remains the second most prevalent species annually, second only to T. brasiliensis (Fidalgo et al 2017, Candido et al 2019, Alencar et al 2021).…”