Food sources of Panstrong herreri (hemiptera: triatominae) collected in Utcubamba, Amazonas - Perú.

Abstract

Objective. To identify the food sources of Panstrongylus herreri from district of Cajaruro, province of Utcubamba, department of Amazonas. Material and methods. The study was performed in two steps: in the first, a precipitin test was standardized using as antigen, blood sera from human being, dog, cat, guinea pig and chicken and the specific antibodies obtained by inoculation of the antigens in rabbits. Nymphs of Triatoma infestans (IV and V instars) maintained in the laboratory were fed on dog, cat, guinea pig, and human being to determine the sensitivity and the specificity of the precipitin test. In the second step, 102 P. herreri specimens collected from houses of the two villages were submitted to the standardized precipitin test. Results. The developed test permitted good titles of antibodies in the range from 1:10 000 to 1:30 000. The specificity was 100% and the sensitivity was 70 % to 100%. Of the 102 P. herreri specimens were detected intestinal content in 93 and found the food source in 77 of them, the blood of guinea pig (36.3%) was the main source of food, followed by human (18.2%) and chicken (14.3%).The Trypano-triatomine index was 62.4%. Conclusions. The precipitin test showed better specificity than sensitivity. In this study sites, the main food source of P. herreri was guinea pig follow by the human being and chicken. The high rate of insects carrying Trypanosoma sp. was related to the insects fed on guinea pig pointing it out as reservoir of the parasite.