Description of the feeding preferences of triatominae in the Chagas disease surveillance study for the State of Pernambuco, Brazil (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)

Studying the feeding preferences of triatomines is an important entomological surveillance tool, since continuous surveillance of the disease is necessary. The precipitin reaction was used to describe the feeding preferences of triatomines along with their natural infection by flagellates similar to Tyrpanosoma cruzi. Six hundred eighty-seven insects were examined, including Triatoma brasiliensis, Triatoma pseudomaculata, and Panstrongylus lutzi. Sixty-nine (10%) of 687 triatomines examined tested positive for flagellates similar to T. cruzi, and 8 (1.2%) of these fed on human blood. This study found potential transmitters of Chagas disease both inside and outside the domiciliar environment.