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. 2006 Oct;75(4):753-61.

A prospective study of the effects of sustained vector surveillance following community-wide insecticide application on Trypanosoma cruzi infection of dogs and cats in rural Northwestern Argentina

Marta V Cardinal  1 , Mónica B Castañera, Marta A Lauricella, María C Cecere, Leonardo A Ceballos, Gonzalo M Vazquez-Prokopec, Uriel Kitron, Ricardo E Gürtler
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A prospective study of the effects of sustained vector surveillance following community-wide insecticide application on Trypanosoma cruzi infection of dogs and cats in rural Northwestern Argentina

Marta V Cardinal et al. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2006 Oct.

Abstract

Domestic dogs were used as natural sentinels to assess prospectively the long-term impact of selective, community-based spraying with pyrethroid insecticides after community-wide spraying on transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi in rural villages under surveillance between 1992 and 2002. In 2000 and 2002 light infestations by Triatoma infestans were recorded, and 523 dogs and cats were examined serologically or by xenodiagnosis. The prevalence of T. cruzi infection in dogs decreased from 65% at baseline to 8.9% and 4.7% at 7.5 and 10 years after sustained vector surveillance, respectively. The average annual force of infection dropped 260-fold from 72.7 per 100 dog-years at baseline to <0.3% in 2002, as determined prospectively and retrospectively from the age-prevalence curve of native dogs born during surveillance. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that prevalent cases in dogs in 2000 and 2002 were associated positively and significantly with the peak number of T. infestans caught in domestic areas at the dog's compound during its lifetime. The sustained decline in T. cruzi infections in dogs and cats is the result of selective, community-based insecticide spraying that kept the abundance of infected T. infestans at marginal levels, fast host population turnover, and low immigration rates from areas with active transmission.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A, Prevalence (bars) and abundance (triangles) of infestation by Triatoma infestans and B, prevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi in bugs in domestic and peridomestic sites in Amamá and neighboring communities, Argentina, March 2000 and October 2002. Numbers on top of bars are bugs collected (A) or examined for infection (B).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Age-specific prevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in all dogs (native and immigrant) from Amamá and neighboring communities, Argentina, May 2000 and November 2002. Fractions are number of infected dogs to number of dogs examined for infection. Figure excludes 9 dogs of unknown age in 2002.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Observed (solid line) and expected (dashed line, according to a catalytic model) age-specific prevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in 248 dogs from Amamá and neighboring communities in November 2002. A, Native dogs. B, Immigrant dogs. Fractions are number of infected dogs to number of dogs examined for infection. Figure excludes 9 dogs of unknown age.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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