CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Host use by vectors is important in understanding the transmission of zoonotic diseases, those that affect humans, wildlife and domestic animals. Here we present a synthesis of host exploitation patterns by kissing-bugs, vectors of Chagas disease. For this synthesis we conducted an extensive literature review, restricted to feeding sources analyzed by precipitin tests. We used modern tools from community ecology and multivariate statistics to determine patterns of segregation in host use. We found that rather than innate preferences for host species, host use by kissing-bugs is influenced by the habitats they colonize. One of the major limitations of studies on kissing bug foraging has been the exclusive focus on the dominant vector species. We propose that expanding foraging studies to consider the community of vectors will substantially increase our understanding of Chagas disease transmission ecology. Our results indicate that host accessibility is a major factor that shapes the blood-foraging patterns of kissing-bugs. Therefore, from an applied perspective, measurements that are directed at disrupting the contact between humans and kissing-bugs, such as housing improvement, are amongst the most desirable strategies for Chagas disease control.