Epidemiology of Chagas disease in Jaguaruana, Ceará, Brazil. I. Presence of triatomines and index of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in four localities of a rural area.
In order to assay the triatomine infestation and domiciliation in the rural area of Jaguaruana district, state of Ceará, Brazil, we studied, from November 2000 to April 2002, 4 localities comprising 158 domiciles as a whole, with an average of 4 inhabitants/house, who are dwelling in there for more than 7 years. Most houses have tile-covered roofs and the walls built with plaster-covered bricks (57%), followed by bricks without plaster (33%), and mud walls (7.5%). A total of 3082 triatomines were captured from different locations, according to the following capture plan: (a). intradomiciles: 238 Triatoma brasiliensis, 6 T. pseudomaculata, 9 Rhodnius nasutus, and 2 Panstrongylus lutzi; (b). peridomiciles (annexes): 2069 T. brasiliensis, 223 T. pseudomaculata, 121 R. nasutus, and 1 P. lutzi; (c). wild, in carnauba palms (Copernicia prunifera): 413 R. nasutus. From the captured triatomines, 1773 (57.5%) were examined. The natural index of Trypanosoma cruzi infection ranged from 10.8% to 30.2% (average of 17%), depending on the species and the location from where the triatomines were captured.
Departamento de Biologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21045-900, Brasil.
Otília
O
Sarquis
José
J
Borges-Pereira
José Roberto
JR
Mac Cord
Taís Ferreira
TF
Gomes
Pedro Hernán
PH
Cabello
Marli Maria
MM
Lima
D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission*; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000145:classification / Q000469:parasitology*; D011156:Population Density; D012424:Rural Population; D014225:Triatominae / Q000145:classification / Q000469:parasitology*; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000302:isolation & purification*