| Abstract: | Chagas disease, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi infection, is a zoonosisof humans, wild and domestic mammals, including dogs. In Panama, the main T.cruzi vector is hodnius pallescens, a triatomine bugwhose main natural habitat is the royal palm, Attalea butyracea. Inthis paper, we present results from three T. cruzi serological tests(immunochromatographic dipstick, indirect immunofluorescence and ELISA) performed in51 dogs from 24 houses in Trinidad de Las Minas, western Panama. We found that ninedogs were seropositive (17.6% prevalence). Dogs were 1.6 times more likely to becomeT. cruzi seropositive with each year of age and 11.6 times ifroyal palms where present in the peridomiciliary area of the dog''s household or itstwo nearest neighbours. Mouse-baited-adhesive traps were employed to evaluate 12peridomestic royal palms. All palms were found infested with R.pallescens with an average of 25.50 triatomines captured per palm. Of 35adult bugs analysed, 88.6% showed protozoa flagellates in their intestinal contents.In addition, dogs were five times more likely to be infected by the presence of anadditional domestic animal species in the dog''s peridomiciliary environment. Ourresults suggest that interventions focused on royal palms might reduce the exposureto T. cruzi infection. |
