Host Feeding Profiles of Triatoma Dimidiata in Peridomestic Habitats of Western Panama

Howard A. Christensen Gorgas Memorial Laboratory

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Octavio E. Sousa Faculty of Medicine, University of Panama, Panama City, Republic of Panama

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Ana Maria de Vasquez Gorgas Memorial Laboratory

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Bloodmeal analysis of Triatoma dimidiata collected in peridomestic habitats of western Panama showed that avian feedings comprised 25% of this species' host selections; opossums, the principal reservoir of Chagas' disease in the republic, were not among mammalian feedings. These findings may account for the low infestation rates of Trypanosoma cruzi in the bugs and the hypoendemicity of Chagas' disease in western Panama.

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