title: American trypanosomiasis (Chagas' disease) in the Caribbean.
abstract: Chagas' disease (American trypanosomiasis) is endemic in nearly all Central and South American countries facing the Caribbean basin. Since 1960, reports from the islands of Aruba, Curaçao, Jamaica, and Trinidad have confirmed the presence of Trypanosoma cruzi, blood-sucking triatomine bugs, and wild animals infected with the parasite. It was also established that T. cruzi, triatomine bugs, infected wild animal reservoirs, and people with a positive serologic test for T. cruzi antibodies are to be found in Belize, the last country in Central America once thought to be free of Chagas' disease.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001531:Belize; D002489:Central America; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D004199:Disease Vectors; D006801:Humans; D007563:Jamaica; D051379:Mice; D009427:Netherlands Antilles; D051381:Rats; D013020:South America; D014224:Triatoma / Q000382:microbiology; D014300:Trinidad and Tobago; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014900:West Indies