scholarly journals A Southwestern United States Pilot Investigation of Triatomine–Mite Prevalence

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 811
Author(s):  
Kyndall C. Dye-Braumuller ◽  
Hanna Waltz ◽  
Mary K. Lynn ◽  
Stephen A. Klotz ◽  
Justin O. Schmidt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Chagas Disease ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Western Hemisphere ◽  
Common Finding ◽  
Southwestern United States ◽  
Pilot Investigation ◽  
Vector Borne ◽  
Cruzi Infection

Background: Chagas disease is a leading cause of cardiac failure in Latin America. Due to poor safety profiles and efficacy of currently available therapeutics, prevention is a priority for the millions living at risk for acquiring this clinically important vector-borne disease. Triatomine vectors of the Chagas disease parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi, are found in the southwestern United States, but risk for autochthonous transmission is thought to be low. The role of ectoparasitic mites is under-explored regarding the ecology of triatomines and Chagas disease transmission. Methods: Triatomine collections were performed using three common entomologic techniques in 2020–2021 from four different locations in southern Arizona and New Mexico. Triatomines were analyzed visually under a 112.5× microscope for the presence of externally attached mites. Following mite removal, triatomines were tested for T. cruzi infection by PCR. Results: Approximately 13% of the collected triatomines had mites securely attached to their head, thorax, abdomen, and legs. More than one mite attached was a common finding among ectoparasitized triatomines. Mite presence, however, did not statistically influence triatomine T. cruzi status. Conclusions: Our findings add to a growing body of literature demonstrating the sustainability of mite-infested triatomine populations throughout the Western Hemisphere. Future investigations are warranted to better understand the biologic impact of triatomine mites and their potential to serve as a potential biological control tool.

A Theologian Looks at Latin America

1958 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 419-430
Author(s):  
Gustave Weigel
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Rio Grande ◽  
The United States ◽  
Western Hemisphere ◽  
The South ◽  
World Power ◽  
International Power ◽  
The Way

One of the constant worries of the United States, since the role of a dominant world-power has been thrust on her, is the situation of Latin America. Relations with Canada require thought and preoccupation but they produce no deep concern. Canada and the United States understand each other and they form their policies in terms of friendly adjustment. Yet the same is not true when we consider the bloc of nations stretching to the south of the Rio Grande. They form two thirds of the geographic stretch of the western hemisphere, and they constitute a population equal to ours. The dependence on Latin America on the part of the United States in her capacity as an international power is evident. What is not evident is the way to make our friendship with our southern neighbors a more stable thing than the fragile arrangement which confronts us in the present.

scholarly journals Unraveling Chagas disease transmission through the oral route: Gateways to Trypanosoma cruzi infection and target tissues

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. e0005507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Silva-dos-Santos ◽  
Juliana Barreto-de-Albuquerque ◽  
Bárbara Guerra ◽  
Otacilio C. Moreira ◽  
Luiz Ricardo Berbert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Trypanosoma Cruzi ◽  
Chagas Disease ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Oral Route ◽  
Cruzi Infection

scholarly journals Projected expansion in climatic suitability for Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas Disease, and five widespread Triatoma species by 2070: the role of climate change on infectious diseases

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Nichols ◽  
Chris J Butler ◽  
Wayne D Lord ◽  
Michelle L Haynie
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
Trypanosoma Cruzi ◽  
Disease Surveillance ◽  
Gastrointestinal Diseases ◽  
The United States ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Vector Borne ◽  
Current Potential

The vector-borne parasite Trypanosoma cruzi infects seven million individuals globally and causes chronic cardiomyopathy and gastrointestinal diseases. Recently, T. cruzi has emerged in the southern United States. It is crucial for disease surveillance efforts to detail regions that present favorable climatic conditions for T. cruzi and vector establishment. We used MaxEnt to develop an ecological niche model for T. cruzi and five widespread Triatoma vectors based on 546 published localities within the United States. We modeled regions of current potential T. cruzi and Triatoma distribution and then regions projected to have suitable climatic conditions by 2070. Regions with suitable climatic conditions for the study organisms are predicted to increase within the United States. Our findings agree with the hypothesis that climate change will facilitate the expansion of tropical diseases throughout temperate regions and suggest climate change will influence the expansion of T. cruzi and Triatoma vectors in the United States.

The U.S. Embassy in Santiago and the Presidential Election of 1964

2020 ◽  
pp. 16-45
Author(s):  
Sebastián Hurtado-Torres
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
The United States ◽  
Western Hemisphere ◽  
Good Representation ◽  
Salvador Allende ◽  
Alliance For Progress ◽  
The U.S

This chapter discusses the role of the U.S. embassy in Santiago in the Chilean presidential election of 1964. One of the leading candidates in the race, Salvador Allende, was an avowed Marxist and the standard-bearer of the Popular Action Front (FRAP), a coalition of Socialists and Communists formed in 1958. Allende's main contender was Eduardo Frei Montalva, the undisputed leader of the Christian Democratic Party. For the United States, an Allende victory in the presidential election would entail a huge setback in the Western Hemisphere. Thus, the United States supported the candidacy of Eduardo Frei, whose project seemed an excellent alternative to the revolutionary path proposed by the Marxist Left and a good representation of the goals and values of the Alliance for Progress. The U.S. ambassador in Chile, Charles Cole, and more so the political staff of the embassy in Santiago, played an important role in shaping the race and advising the main chiefs of Eduardo Frei's political campaign, and even Frei himself, in the course of 1964. The mostly untold story of the U.S. embassy's involvement in the 1964 presidential race is an excellent example of the way in which U.S. foreign policy was carried out on the ground and, in many situations, in the open.

scholarly journals Congenital Chagas’ disease transmission in the United States: Diagnosis in adulthood

IDCases ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 72-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Murillo ◽  
Lina M. Bofill ◽  
Hector Bolivar ◽  
Carlos Torres-Viera ◽  
Julio A. Urbina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Chagas Disease ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
The United States

scholarly journals SB-431542, a Transforming Growth Factor β Inhibitor, Impairs Trypanosoma cruzi Infection in Cardiomyocytes and Parasite Cycle Completion

2007 ◽  
Vol 51 (8) ◽  
pp. 2905-2910 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana C. Waghabi ◽  
Michelle Keramidas ◽  
Claudia M. Calvet ◽  
Marcos Meuser ◽  
Maria de Nazaré C. Soeiro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Growth Factor ◽  
Trypanosoma Cruzi ◽  
Signaling Pathway ◽  
Chagas Disease ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor ◽  
Parasitic Infection ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor Β ◽  
Type I ◽  
Cruzi Infection

ABSTRACT The antiinflammatory cytokine transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) plays an important role in Chagas disease, a parasitic infection caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. In the present study, we show that SB-431542, an inhibitor of the TGF-β type I receptor (ALK5), inhibits T. cruzi-induced activation of the TGF-β pathway in epithelial cells and in cardiomyocytes. Further, we demonstrate that addition of SB-431542 greatly reduces cardiomyocyte invasion by T. cruzi. Finally, SB-431542 treatment significantly reduces the number of parasites per infected cell and trypomastigote differentiation and release. Taken together, these data further confirm the major role of the TGF-β signaling pathway in both T. cruzi infection and T. cruzi cell cycle completion. Our present data demonstrate that small inhibitors of the TGF-β signaling pathway might be potential pharmacological tools for the treatment of Chagas disease.

scholarly journals Decoys and dilution: the impact of incompetent hosts on prevalence of Chagas disease

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mondal Hasan Zahid ◽  
Christopher M. Kribs
Keyword(s):  
Chagas Disease ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Birth Rate ◽  
Parasite Prevalence ◽  
Human Infection ◽  
Vector Borne Diseases ◽  
Intermediate Distance ◽  
Vector Borne ◽  
Reduce Risk ◽  
The Impact

AbstractBiodiversity is commonly believed to reduce risk of vector-borne zoonoses. However, researchers already showed that the effect of biodiversity on disease transmission is not that straightforward. This study focuses on the effect of biodiversity, specifically on the effect of the decoy process (additional hosts distracting vectors from their focal host), on reducing infections of vector-borne diseases in humans. Here, we consider the specific case of Chagas disease and use mathematical population models to observe the impact on human infection of the proximity of chickens, which are incompetent hosts for the parasite but serve as a preferred food source for vectors. We consider three cases as the distance between the two host populations varies: short (when farmers bring chickens inside the home to protect them from predators), intermediate (close enough for vectors with one host to detect the presence of the other host type), and far (separate enclosed buildings such as a home and hen-house). Our analysis shows that the presence of chickens reduces parasite prevalence in humans only at an intermediate distance under the condition that the vector birth rate from feeding on chickens is sufficiently low.

scholarly journals The Taste of Blood in Mosquitoes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronica Jové ◽  
Zhongyan Gong ◽  
Felix J.H. Hol ◽  
Zhilei Zhao ◽  
Trevor R. Sorrells ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Calcium Imaging ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Blood Feeding ◽  
Metabolic Energy ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Blood Components ◽  
Feeding Programs ◽  
Vector Borne ◽  
Innate Ability

SUMMARYBlood-feeding mosquitoes survive by feeding on nectar for metabolic energy, but to develop eggs, females require a blood meal. Aedes aegypti females must accurately discriminate between blood and nectar because detection of each meal promotes one of two mutually exclusive feeding programs characterized by distinct sensory appendages, meal sizes, digestive tract targets, and metabolic fates. We investigated the role of the syringe-like blood-feeding appendage, the stylet, and discovered that sexually dimorphic stylet neurons are the first to taste blood. Using pan-neuronal GCaMP calcium imaging, we found that blood is detected by four functionally distinct classes of stylet neurons, each tuned to specific blood components associated with diverse taste qualities. Furthermore, the stylet is specialized to detect blood over nectar. Stylet neurons are insensitive to nectar-specific sugars and responses to glucose, the sugar found in both blood and nectar, depend on the presence of additional blood components. The distinction between blood and nectar is therefore encoded in specialized neurons at the very first level of sensory detection in mosquitoes. This innate ability to recognize blood is the basis of vector-borne disease transmission to millions of people world-wide.

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