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Revista Med
Print version ISSN 0121-5256On-line version ISSN 1909-7700
Abstract
TURRIAGO GOMEZ, BRENDA CAROLINA; VALLEJO, GUSTAVO ADOLFO and FELIPE, GUHL. SEROPREVALENCE OF TRYPANOSOMA CRUZI IN DOGS FROM TWO ENDEMIC AREAS OF COLOMBIA. rev.fac.med [online]. 2008, vol.16, n.1, pp.11-18. ISSN 0121-5256.
American Trypanosomiasis is an antropozoonotic disease caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. This protozoan widely distributed in the Americas invades and multiplies mainly in the cardiac tissue. In Colombia, 2%-3% of the population is infected with the parasite and nearly 5% is under risk due to the widely distribution of the triatomine vectors. This study reports in two endemic zones of Boyaca (Colombia) the prevalence of T. cruzi in dogs (Cannis familiaris) using indirect immunofluorescent antibody test (IFI) and the molecular characterization of strains isolated by xenodiagnosis. 261 sera from mongrel dogs of all ages where obtained from the locations of Soata and Berbeo. The detection of antibodies against T. cruzi was performed by IFI, xenodiagnosis was performed in 185 dogs. Four dogs resulted positive and three different strains were isolated and characterized as T. cruzi 1 (TC-I) by the miniexon gene amplification. Statistical analyses showed significant associations between house characteristics such as type of walls, ceiling and floor with the number of infected dogs. A total of 10,7% of all processed sera were positive, being 11,2% from Soata and 9,5% from Berbeo. This first approach to determine the prevalence of infected dogs with T. cruzi in Colombia reveals the epidemiological importance of dogs as reservoirs of this parasite that may help to batter understand the dynamics of the parasite transmission and life cycle.
Keywords : Trypanosomiasis; Trypanosoma cruzi; prevalence; xenodiagnosis.