title: First report of human Trypanosoma cruzi infection attributed to TcBat genotype.
abstract: Chagas disease is an endemic disease of the American continent caused by Trypanosoma cruzi and divided into six discrete typing units (TcI - TcVI). Nearly 10 million people harbour the infection representing a serious issue in public health. Epidemiological surveillance allowed us to detect a bat-related T. cruzi genotype (henceforth named TcBat) in a 5-year-old female living in a forest area in northwestern Colombia. Molecular tools determined a mixed infection of T. cruzi I and TcBat genotypes. This represents the first report of TcBat infection in humans; the epidemiological consequences of this finding are discussed herein.
authors.affiliation: Red Chagas Colombia, Instituto Nacional de Salud, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Ramírez
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hernández
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Montilla
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zambrano
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Flórez
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Parra
authors.forename: Z M
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Cucunubá
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000469:parasitology; D003105:Colombia / Q000453:epidemiology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D011159:Population Surveillance; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000235:genetics; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000635:transmission
keywords: Chagas disease; bats; discrete typing units; genotypes; human infection