SEARCHING FOR THE NEXUS BETWEEN TRANSMISSION CYCLES OF Trypanosoma cruzi IN ARID ECOSYSTEMS

ACTIS E; JAHN GA; GÜRTLER RE; SUPERINA ME

Estancia Grande

Congreso; XXXII REUNIÓN CIENTÍFICA ANUAL DE LA SOCIEDAD DE BIOLOGÍA DE CUYO; 2014

SOCIEDAD DE BIOLOGÍA DE CUYO

Trypanosoma cruzi is the etiologic agent of Chagas disease, a vector-borne zoonosis endemic of the Americasthat affects 10 million people and kills more than 10000 every year. The pichi (Zaedyus pichiy, Mammalia:Xenarthra), reservoir host for T. cruzi, is a small armadillo endemic of arid and semi-arid lands of Argentinaand Chile. Pichis have semi-fossorial habits, being omnivores that feed primarily on insects. Pichis are one ofthe most-hunted species by poachers in Mendoza province, Argentina, which has led to their listing as NearThreatened in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Rural people and their domestic animals constantlyinteract with them. Pichis are intensely used as a protein source by rural people, sheepdogs hunt them, andgoats graze in the habitat of pichis and wild vectors (triatomine bugs) of Chagas disease. Due to interactionbetween different domestic and wild reservoir hosts and vectors, domestic and sylvatic transmission cyclescan interrelate and overlap, providing the pathogens the possibility to migrate from one cycle to the other. Weare currently carrying out an eco-epidemiological study in Mendoza. Pichis, goats, and sheepdogs are beingscreened for T. cruzi in three different landscape units: north (Chacoan monte), south (Patagonian steppe) andcenter of the province (ecotone between both ecosystems), whilst laboratory analyses are being carried out atIMBECU (Institute of Experimental Medicine and Biology-CONICET). Our main objective is to studypossible mechanisms that could cause the overlapping of both cycles. We believe that a real understanding ofthe problematic by the resource-poor local communities will contribute to better understand complex publichealth issues that affect them, and it will also decrease pichi hunting increasing its chances of long-termsurvival. From the point of view of Conservation Medicine, we seek to understand interplays between thehealth of rural people, and wild and domestic animals living in arid ecosystems.