Veterinary

Studies in the area of veterinary entomology reported from University of Buenos Aires

  2008 NOV 24 - (VerticalNews.com) -- "Triatoma guasayana (Wygodzinsky & Abalos), a sylvatic vector of Chagas' disease, occurs in natural and peridomestic habitats of the dry Chaco region of Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay. Ten-year retrospective spatial analyses of peridomestic T guasayana abundance in the rural community of Amama were expanded to the neighbouring community of Trinidad in northwestern Argentina," researchers in Buenos Aires, Argentina report.

  "The distribution of T.guasayana in domiciles, peridomiciles (storerooms, chicken coops and corrals) and natural habitats (bromeliads, dry cacti and logs) around houses (i.e. 'semi-sylvatic' habitats) was analysed. The distribution of the 316 T.guasayana specimens collected in domestic and peridomestic sites during 1993-2002 was significantly clustered in both communities. Searches confirmed that the spatial distribution of semi-sylvatic and peridomestic T guasayana was determined by the joint effects of the local abundance of goats and the density of semi-sylvatic habitats. The integration of detailed entomological and demographic longitudinal data with geographic information system data, high-resolution satellite imagery, appropriate spatial and temporal analyses and field observations allowed us to infer the underlying processes determining the distribution of T guasayana in rural communities," wrote G.M. Vazquezprokopec and colleagues, University of Buenos Aires.

  The researchers concluded: "This approach may be applied to other sylvatic and peridomestic vectors of Chagas' disease in order to identify high-risk areas for targeted control or environmental management."

  Vazquezprokopec and colleagues published their study in Medical and Veterinary Entomology (Environmental and demographic factors determining the spatial distribution of Triatoma guasayana in peridomestic and semi-sylvatic habitats of rural northwestern Argentina. Medical and Veterinary Entomology, 2008;22(3):273-282).

  For additional information, contact R.E. Gurtler, University of Buenos Aires, Faculty Ciencias Exactas & Nat, Dept. of Ecology Genetics & Evoluc, Laboratory Ecoepidemiol, Ciudad University C1428EHA, Buenos Aires, DF, Argentina.

  Publisher contact information for the journal Medical and Veterinary Entomology is: Blackwell Publishing, 9600 Garsington Rd., Oxford OX4 2DQ, Oxon, England.

  Keywords: Conservation, Ecology, Environment, Environmental ManagementEntomology, University of Buenos Aires.

  This article was prepared by VerticalNews Veterinary editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2008, VerticalNews Veterinary via VerticalNews.com.