Trypanosoma Cruzi (Chagas') in the Border Region

Chagas' Disease, an often fatal disease caused by infection with the parasitic protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, is a known problem in South and Central America. Despite the occurrence of this disease in animals in Chihuahua and Texas and other border states, text books generally list these areas as not endemic for human disease. Recent experiments suggest that this assumption is over optimistic and that not only are vectors in this region commonly carrying T. cruzi, but the human population of this area is in fact being infected with this parasite. This project expanded these findings with a coordinated, binational study to investigate the current and potential level of infection of the population by determining the disribution and rate of infection of the triatomid bug vector, identified the primary genotypes of parasites found in each region, and compar the prevelance of human infection by T. cruzi among people in this region who are exposed to triatomid bug bites and feces.