A Scoping Review of Mathematical Models Used to Investigate the Role of Dogs in Chagas Disease Transmission

• Published in: Animals (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 4; p. 555
• Main Authors: Fiatsonu, Edem, Busselman, Rachel E, Ndeffo-Mbah, Martial L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.02.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Analysis; Canine Chagas disease; Chagas disease; Computer simulation; Disease control; Disease transmission; Dogs; dynamic transmission model; Epidemiology; Evaluation; Health aspects; Health risks; Households; Hypotheses; Infections; Infectious diseases; Insecticides; Intervention; Investigations; Mathematical models; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Parasites; Protozoa; Review; Reviews; Risk; Serology; Spraying; Tropical diseases; Trypanosoma cruzi; Vector-borne diseases; Vectors (Biology); Zoonoses; Mexico; Latin America; dynamic transmission model; Canine Chagas disease; Trypanosoma cruzi
• ISSN: 2076-2615; 2076-2615
• DOI: 10.3390/ani13040555

Chagas disease is a zoonotic vector-borne disease caused by the parasite , which affects a variety of mammalian species across the Americas, including humans and dogs. Mathematical modeling has been widely used to investigate the transmission dynamics and control of vector-borne diseases. We performed a scoping review of mathematical models that investigated the role of dogs in transmission. We identified ten peer-reviewed papers that have explicitly modeled the role of dogs in Chagas transmission dynamics. We discuss the different methods employed in these studies, the different transmission metrics, disease transmission routes, and disease control strategies that have been considered and evaluated. In general, mathematical modeling studies have shown that dogs are not only at high risk of infection but are also major contributors to transmission to humans. Moreover, eliminating infected dogs from households or frequent use of insecticide was shown to be effective for curtailing transmission in both humans and dogs. However, when insecticide spraying is discontinued, infections in dogs were shown to return to their pre-spraying levels. We discuss the challenges and opportunities for future modeling studies to improve our understanding of Chagas disease transmission dynamics and control.