Trypanosoma cruzi infection in the sylvatic kissing bug Mepraia gajardoi from the Chilean Southern Pacific Ocean coast

Carezza Botto-Mahan; Maritza Sepúlveda; Marcela Vidal; Mariana Acuña-Retamar; Sylvia Ortiz; Aldo Solari

doi:10.1016/j.actatropica.2007.11.003

Trypanosoma cruzi infection in the sylvatic kissing bug Mepraia gajardoi from the Chilean Southern Pacific Ocean coast

Acta Trop. 2008 Feb;105(2):166-9. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2007.11.003. Epub 2007 Nov 29.

Authors

Carezza Botto-Mahan¹, Maritza Sepúlveda, Marcela Vidal, Mariana Acuña-Retamar, Sylvia Ortiz, Aldo Solari

Affiliation

¹ Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 653, Santiago, Chile. cbotto@uchile.cl

PMID: 18177821
DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2007.11.003

Abstract

The Southern Pacific Ocean coast has been traditionally considered a non-active transmission area for Chagas disease. In this report, we show evidence of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in the sylvatic kissing bug Mepraia gajardoi from the northern Chilean coast.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Chagas Disease / transmission*
Chile
DNA, Protozoan / analysis
DNA, Protozoan / isolation & purification
Host-Parasite Interactions
Insect Vectors / parasitology*
Pacific Ocean
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Reduviidae / parasitology*
Trypanosoma cruzi / classification
Trypanosoma cruzi / genetics
Trypanosoma cruzi / isolation & purification*

Substances

DNA, Protozoan