title: Blood meal sources of wild and domestic Triatoma infestans (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) in Bolivia: connectivity between cycles of transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chagas disease is a major public health problem in Latin America. Its etiologic agent, Trypanosoma cruzi, is mainly transmitted through the contaminated faeces of blood-sucking insects called triatomines. Triatoma infestans is the main vector in various countries in South America and recently, several foci of wild populations of this species have been described in Bolivia and other countries. These wild populations are suspected of affecting the success of insecticide control campaigns being carried out in South America. To assess the risk that these T. infestans populations pose to human health, it is helpful to determine blood meal sources.
  
  
  METHODS
  In the present work, blood meals were identified in various Bolivian wild T. infestans populations and in three specific areas, in both wild and intra-peridomestic populations to assess the links between wild and domestic cycles of T. cruzi transmission. PCR-HDA and sequencing of Cytb gene were used to identify these blood meal sources.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Fourteen vertebrate species were identified as wild blood meal sources. Of those, the most prevalent species were two Andean endemic rodents, Octodontomys gliroides (36%) and Galea musteloides (30%), while humans were the third most prevalent source (18.7%). Of 163 blood meals from peridomestic areas, more than half were chickens, and the others were generally domestic animals or humans. Interestingly, blood from wild animals was identified in triatomines captured in the peridomestic and domestic environment, and blood from domestic animals was found in triatomines captured in the wild, revealing links between wild and domestic cycles of T. cruzi transmission.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The current study suggests that wild T. infestans attack humans in the wild, but is also able to bite humans in domestic settings before going back to its natural environment. These results support the risk to human health posed by wild populations of T. infestans.
authors.affiliation: IRD, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, UMR INTERTRYP, (IRD-CIRAD), Interactions hôtes-vecteurs-parasites-environnement dans les maladies tropicales négligées dues aux trypanosomatidés, 911 Av. Agropolis, Montpellier, cédex 5, 34394, France. rosiob8@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Rosio
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Buitrago
authors.affiliation: IRD, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, UMR INTERTRYP, (IRD-CIRAD), Interactions hôtes-vecteurs-parasites-environnement dans les maladies tropicales négligées dues aux trypanosomatidés, 911 Av. Agropolis, Montpellier, cédex 5, 34394, France.
authors.forename: Marie-France
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Bosseno
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Laboratorios de Salud (INLASA), Laboratorio de Entomología Médica, Rafael Zubieta #1889, Miraflores, Casilla M-10019, La Paz, Bolivia.
authors.forename: Stéphanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Depickère
authors.affiliation: IRD, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, UMR INTERTRYP, (IRD-CIRAD), Interactions hôtes-vecteurs-parasites-environnement dans les maladies tropicales négligées dues aux trypanosomatidés, 911 Av. Agropolis, Montpellier, cédex 5, 34394, France.
authors.forename: Etienne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Waleckx
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Laboratorios de Salud (INLASA), Laboratorio de Entomología Médica, Rafael Zubieta #1889, Miraflores, Casilla M-10019, La Paz, Bolivia.
authors.forename: Renata
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Salas
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Laboratorios de Salud (INLASA), Laboratorio de Entomología Médica, Rafael Zubieta #1889, Miraflores, Casilla M-10019, La Paz, Bolivia.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Aliaga
authors.affiliation: IRD, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, UMR INTERTRYP, (IRD-CIRAD), Interactions hôtes-vecteurs-parasites-environnement dans les maladies tropicales négligées dues aux trypanosomatidés, 911 Av. Agropolis, Montpellier, cédex 5, 34394, France.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Barnabé
authors.affiliation: IRD, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, UMR INTERTRYP, (IRD-CIRAD), Interactions hôtes-vecteurs-parasites-environnement dans les maladies tropicales négligées dues aux trypanosomatidés, 911 Av. Agropolis, Montpellier, cédex 5, 34394, France.
authors.forename: Simone Frédérique
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Brenière
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic / Q000097:blood / Q000145:classification / Q000469:parasitology*; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000097:blood / Q000145:classification / Q000469:parasitology*; D001769:Blood / Q000469:parasitology; D001838:Bolivia / Q000453:epidemiology; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary*; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000502:physiology; D014224:Triatoma / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000502:physiology; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Blood meal sources; Chagas disease; Feeding habits; Triatomines; Wild Triatoma infestans