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Published on: July 4, 2007
Epidemiological status of kissing-bugs in South East Asia: A preliminary assessment
Jean-Pierre Dujardin1, Khoa Pham Thi2, Lam Truong Xuan3
1Unité Mixte de Recherche 177- INTERTRYP (Interactions Hôte-Vecteur-Parasite-Environnement dans les Maladies Tropicales Négligées dues aux Trypanosomatidés), Unité Mixte de Recherches CIRAD (Centre International de Recherches Agronomiques pour le Développement) - IRD (Institut de Recherches pour le Développement), Campus International de Baillarguet, Montpellier, France.
Abstract:
Kissing-bugs (Triatominae) are being increasingly reported as a biting nuisance in SE Asia, with severe bite reactions sometimes leading to anaphylactic shock. In addition, they pose a risk for vector-borne transmission of trypanosomiasis, with potential diagnostic difficulties due to the range of trypanosome species in the region. Here, we review available information about Triatominae in Asia, and present additional comparisons using morphometry, cytogenetics, and new DNA sequence data, to clarify their relationship with each other and with the better known American species. We deduce that all Asian Triatominae have probably derived from forms originally spread during the 15-18th centuries on sailing ships, from the area that now forms the southern USA.
