New insights on the spread of Triatoma infestans from Bolivia—Implications for Chagas disease emergence in the Southern Cone

• Published in: Infection, genetics and evolution Vol. 10; no. 2; pp. 350 - 353
• Main Authors: Cortez, M.R., Monteiro, F.A., Noireau, F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier B.V 01.03.2010; Elsevier
• Subjects: Agriculture; Animal biology; Animals; Biodiversity and Ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Bolivia; Bolivia - epidemiology; Chagas disease; Chagas Disease - epidemiology; Chagas Disease - parasitology; Chagas Disease - transmission; Communicable Diseases, Emerging - epidemiology; Communicable Diseases, Emerging - parasitology; Communicable Diseases, Emerging - transmission; Dispersal; Ecology, environment; Ecosystems; Environmental Sciences; Epidemiology. Vaccinations; General aspects; Genetics; Holidays; Human protozoal diseases; Humans; Infectious diseases; Insect Vectors - growth & development; Insect Vectors - parasitology; Invertebrate Zoology; Life Sciences; Medical sciences; Parasitic diseases; Populations and Evolution; Protozoal diseases; Sylvatic focus; Triatoma - growth & development; Triatoma - parasitology; Triatoma infestans; Trypanosomiasis; Zea mays; South America; Bolivia; America; Chagas disease; Triatoma infestans; Sylvatic focus; Bolivia; Dispersal; Infection; Protozoal disease; Molecular epidemiology; Parasitosis; Trypanosomiasis
• ISSN: 1567-1348; 1567-7257
• DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2009.12.006

Triatoma infestans, now eliminated from most of South America by control campaigns, has been and still is the main Chagas disease vector due to its ability to colonize rural dwellings. The traditional hypothesis put forth to explain T. infestans adaptation to the synanthropic environment rests on the domestication of wild guinea pigs, one of its natural hosts, by Andean tribes about 5000 BC. Here we present two new hypotheses, based on organized human social activities. The first involves maize production, storage and distribution during the Inca period. Maize granaries could host wild rodent populations that would attract sylvatic T. infestans that were later dispersed during maize distribution. The second hypothesis is associated with the contemporary Urkupiña Virgin festival, near Cochabamba, where thousands of pilgrims gather for rituals in an area that is part of a sylvatic T. infestans focus, thus favoring the contact with the insects and leading to their passive dispersal.