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Molecular identification of Trypanosoma cruzi in Anasa tristis (LB268)
Author(s) -
CooksFagbodun Sheritta,
McHugh Mark,
Graham Martha,
Scott Maya,
Sleets Halston,
Quarcoo Franklin,
Witola William,
Alexander A.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.28.1_supplement.lb268
Subject(s) - trypanosoma cruzi , chagas disease , biology , host (biology) , zoology , triatoma , virology , parasite hosting , heteroptera , ecology , reduviidae , world wide web , computer science
Chagas’ disease is a parasitic disease caused by Trypanosoma cruzi ( T. cruzi ) . It is a major health concern for the USA, although, mainly endemic to rural, poverty‐stricken areas, of Latin America. It is estimated 300,000 people in the USA and 8 to 14 million in Latin America are infected. The parasites are transmitted by the reduviid “kissing” bug. The kissing bug takes a blood meal and defecates on the host, which allows feces infected with T. cruzi to enter the wound. Currently, the source of T. cruzi transmission in the USA is unknown. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine if squash bugs, common relatives of the kissing bug, can act as vectors for T. cruzi and potentially transmit the parasites to mammalian hosts. Hence, 400 squash bugs were collected from a variety of curcubit plants, identified and separated by genus/species. PCR analysis was performed on DNA isolated from bug midgut contents to determine if T. cruzi was present. Morphological examination confirmed that all samples were Anasa tristis ( A. tristis ). Additionally, 5‐10% of bugs were positive for T. cruzi . Putative T. cruzi parasites were also found in cell cultures inoculated with midgut contents. Thus, we concluded that A. tristis can harbor T. cruzi parasites. However, the potential for the parasite to be transmitted to mammalian hosts via squash bugs, although unlikely due to the arthropod’s host preference, is still being investigated. Grant Funding Source : Supported by Howard Hughes Medical Institute MICROBE Project# 52007563, RCMI Core Grant number#G12MD007585‐23, Center for Biomedical Research, Tuskegee University, George Washington Carver Agricultural Experiment Station