Geographic Distribution of Chagas Disease Vectors in Brazil Based on Ecological NicheModeling

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Issue Date
2011Author
Gurgel-Gonçalves, Rodrigo
Galvão, Cleber
Costa, Jane
Peterson, A. Townsend
Publisher
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, publisher version
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Although Brazil was declared free from Chagas disease transmission by the domestic vector Triatoma infestans, human acute cases are still being registered based on transmission by native triatomine species. For a better understanding of transmission risk, the geographic distribution of Brazilian triatomines was analyzed. Sixteen out of 62 Brazilian species that both occur in > 20 municipalities and present synanthropic tendencies were modeled based on their ecological niches. Panstrongylus geniculatus and P. megistus showed broad ecological ranges, but most of the species sort out by the biome in which they are distributed: Rhodnius pictipes and R. robustus in the Amazon; R. neglectus, Triatoma sordida, and T. costalimai in the Cerrado; R. nasutus, P. lutzi, T. brasiliensis, T. pseudomaculata, T. melanocephala, and T. petrocchiae in the Caatinga; T. rubrovaria in the southern pampas; T. tibiamaculata and T. vitticeps in the Atlantic Forest. Although most occurrences were recorded in open areas (Cerrado and Caatinga), our results show that all environmental conditions in the country are favorable to one or more of the species analyzed, such that almost nowhere is Chagas transmission risk negligible.
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This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jtm/2012/705326/abs/
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Citation
Rodrigo Gurgel-Gonçalves, Cléber Galvão, Jane Costa, and A. Townsend Peterson, “Geographic Distribution of Chagas Disease Vectors in Brazil Based on Ecological Niche Modeling,” Journal of Tropical Medicine, vol. 2012, Article ID 705326, 15 pages, 2012. http:/dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/705326
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