Vector Blood Meals and Chagas Disease Transmission Potential, United States

Stevens, Lori; Dorn, Patricia L.; Hobson, J.; Rúa, Nicholas M. de la; Lucero, David E.; Klotz, John H.; Schmidt, Justin O.; Klotz, Stephen A.

doi:10.3201/eid1804.111396

Cited by 53 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Blood sources 8 and T. cruzi parasite infection 7 using primers from Moser et al 9 were determined for each insect as previously reported. 10 By using universal vertebrate primers for the mitochondrial 12S ribosomal gene, 11,12 a broad net was cast to potentially identify as many blood meals as possible. Previous work established that assays based on the 12S gene detected more blood meal sources than an assay based on the mitochondrial cytochrome B gene.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous work established that assays based on the 12S gene detected more blood meal sources than an assay based on the mitochondrial cytochrome B gene. 10 The polymerise chain reaction products were cloned and sequenced to isolate multiple blood meals within a single insect. Blood meal sources were inferred by using BLAST (http://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Blast.cgi).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Free-roaming Kissing Bugs, Vectors of Chagas Disease, Feed Often on Humans in the Southwest

Klotz¹,

Schmidt²,

Dorn³

et al. 2014

The American Journal of Medicine

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BACKGROUND Kissing bugs, vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas disease, are common in the desert Southwest. After a dispersal flight in summer, adult kissing bugs occasionally gain access to houses where they remain feeding on humans and pets. How often wild, free-roaming kissing bugs feed on humans outside their homes has not been studied. This is important because contact of kissing bugs with humans is one means of gauging the risk for acquisition of Chagas disease. METHODS We captured kissing bugs in a zoological park near Tucson, Arizona, where many potential vertebrate hosts are on display, as well as being visited by more than 300,000 humans annually. Cloacal contents of the bugs were investigated for sources of blood meals and infection with T. cruzi. RESULTS Eight of 134 captured bugs were randomly selected and investigated. All 8 (100%) had human blood in their cloacae, and 7 of 8 (88%) had fed on various vertebrates on display or feral in the park. Three bugs (38%) were infected with T. cruzi. Three specimens of the largest species of kissing bug in the United States (Triatoma recurva) were captured in a cave and walking on a road; 2 of 3 (67%) had fed on humans. No T. recurva harbored T. cruzi. CONCLUSIONS This study establishes that free-roaming kissing bugs, given the opportunity, frequently feed on humans outside the confines of their homes in the desert Southwest and that some harbored T. cruzi. This could represent a hitherto unrecognized potential for transmission of Chagas disease in the United States.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Free-roaming Kissing Bugs, Vectors of Chagas Disease, Feed Often on Humans in the Southwest

Klotz¹,

Schmidt²,

Dorn³

et al. 2014

The American Journal of Medicine

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“…32 In contrast, other species like peridomestic Triatoma longipennis did not contain human blood, therefore was not considered epidemiologically important. 33 Recently, human blood meals were detected in sylvan Triatoma rubida and Triatoma protracta in the United States, 34 therefore it is now necessary to investigate transmission risk for humans in this region. Various factors such as season, developmental stage, and vector density, may affect the feeding patterns of vectors, thus it would be important to monitor blood sources at different times of the year if blood sources are to be used to evaluate control programs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vector Blood Meals Are an Early Indicator of the Effectiveness of the Ecohealth Approach in Halting Chagas Transmission in Guatemala

Pellecer

Dorn

Bustamante³

et al. 2013

The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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Abstract. A novel method using vector blood meal sources to assess the impact of control efforts on the risk of transmission of Chagas disease was tested in the village of El Tule, Jutiapa, Guatemala. Control used Ecohealth interventions, where villagers ameliorated the factors identified as most important for transmission. First, after an initial insecticide application, house walls were plastered. Later, bedroom floors were improved and domestic animals were moved outdoors. Only vector blood meal sources revealed the success of the first interventions: human blood meals declined from 38% to 3% after insecticide application and wall plastering. Following all interventions both vector blood meal sources and entomological indices revealed the reduction in transmission risk. These results indicate that vector blood meals may reveal effects of control efforts early on, effects that may not be apparent using traditional entomological indices, and provide further support for the Ecohealth approach to Chagas control in Guatemala.

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“…Although only 23 cases of autochthonous transmission of T. cruzi have been reported in the United States [21], many more cases of allergic reactions including anaphylaxis from T. protracta salivary proteins have been reported in the southwestern United States [20]. While classically described as sylvatic species, human blood meals in T. protracta from California have been reported [22]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With regards to epidemiological importance, Triatoma gerstaeckeri , Triatoma sanguisuga , and Triatoma lecticularia have been implicated as the vectors of autochthonous transmission in the United States [23–27]; and all three species are found in close association with homes in rural areas of Texas and Louisiana [28–31]. Human blood meals are common in Triatoma rubida from Arizona and California [22,32]. Many species within the Lecticularia complex show morphological variation across their broad geographic range including T. rubida and T. sanguisuga .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a phylogenetic approach to the composition of species complexes in the North and Central American Triatoma, vectors of Chagas disease

Rúa

Bustamante

Menes

et al. 2014

Infection, Genetics and Evolution

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Phylogenetic relationships of insect vectors of parasitic diseases are important for understanding the evolution of epidemiologically relevant traits, and may be useful in vector control. The subfamily Triatominae (Hemiptera:Reduviidae) includes ~140 extant species arranged in five tribes comprised of 15 genera. The genus Triatoma is the most species-rich and contains important vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease. Triatoma species were grouped into complexes originally by morphology and more recently with the addition of information from molecular phylogenetics (the four-complex hypothesis); however, without a strict adherence to monophyly. To date, the validity of proposed species complexes has not been tested by statistical tests of topology. The goal of this study was to clarify the systematics of 19 Triatoma species from North and Central America. We inferred their evolutionary relatedness using two independent data sets: the complete nuclear Internal Transcribed Spacer-2 ribosomal DNA (ITS-2 rDNA) and head morphometrics. In addition, we used the Shimodaira-Hasegawa statistical test of topology to assess the fit of the data to a set of competing systematic hypotheses (topologies). An unconstrained topology inferred from the ITS-2 data was compared to topologies constrained based on the four-complex hypothesis or one inferred from our morphometry results. The unconstrained topology represents a statistically significant better fit of the molecular data than either the four-complex or the morphometric topology. We propose an update to the composition of species complexes in the North and Central American Triatoma, based on a phylogeny inferred from ITS-2 as a first step towards updating the phylogeny of the complexes based on monophyly and statistical tests of topologies.

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Vector Blood Meals and Chagas Disease Transmission Potential, United States

Cited by 53 publications

References 15 publications

Free-roaming Kissing Bugs, Vectors of Chagas Disease, Feed Often on Humans in the Southwest

Free-roaming Kissing Bugs, Vectors of Chagas Disease, Feed Often on Humans in the Southwest

Vector Blood Meals Are an Early Indicator of the Effectiveness of the Ecohealth Approach in Halting Chagas Transmission in Guatemala

Towards a phylogenetic approach to the composition of species complexes in the North and Central American Triatoma, vectors of Chagas disease

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