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Ecological Niche Modeling as a Tool for Understanding Distributions and Interactions of Vectors, Hosts, and Etiologic Agents of Chagas Disease

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Recent Advances on Model Hosts

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 710))

Abstract

Chagas disease, or American Trypanosomiasis, is a tropical parasitic disease caused by the flagellate protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, which is in turn transmitted by blood-sucking insects of the subfamily Triatominae (family Reduviidae). Because no drugs or vaccines are available to cure Chagas disease in its chronic phase, vectorial control (i.e., insecticide spraying) constitutes the principal means by which to impair Chagas disease transmission. Environmental and social factors have caused changes in the epidemiology of this disease—it was originally restricted to Latin America, but is now becoming a global heath concern in non-endemic areas as a consequence of human migrations. In Brazil, despite the fact that the most effective vector has been controlled, other triatomine species infest and colonize domiciliary habitats and can transmit the pathogen. As a consequence, Chagas disease transmission continues: the prevalence of the disease remains at ∼12 million people, with ∼200,000 new cases per year in 15 countries of Latin America, making control actions still necessary. Understanding the environmental requirements and geographic distributions of vectors is key to guiding control measures, and understanding better epidemiologic aspects of the disease. Ecologic niche modeling is a relatively new tool that permits such insights—as a consequence, here, we present an overview of insights gained using this approach in understanding of Chagas disease.

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Acknowledgements

Vanessa Lima Neiva for editing the references and Heloisa Diniz, Serviço de Produção e Tratamento de Imagens do Instituto Owaldo Cruz, for editing the figures and assistance in the preparation of the plates. CNPq for support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Biodiversidade Entomológica, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Jane Costa

  2. Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 66045, USA

    A. Townsend Peterson

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  1. Jane Costa
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  2. A. Townsend Peterson
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Correspondence to Jane Costa .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Fruit Street 55, Boston, 02114-2696, Massachusetts, USA

    Eleftherios Mylonakis

  2. Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge Street 185, Boston, 02114, Massachusetts, USA

    Frederick M. Ausubel

  3. Schepens Eye Research Inst., Harvard Medical School, Staniford St. 20, Boston, 02114, Massachusetts, USA

    Michael Gilmore

  4. Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Dept. Microbiology & Immunology, Yeshiva University, Morris Park Ave. 1300, Bronx, 10461, New York, USA

    Arturo Casadevall

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Costa, J., Peterson, A.T. (2012). Ecological Niche Modeling as a Tool for Understanding Distributions and Interactions of Vectors, Hosts, and Etiologic Agents of Chagas Disease. In: Mylonakis, E., Ausubel, F., Gilmore, M., Casadevall, A. (eds) Recent Advances on Model Hosts. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 710. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5638-5_7

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