Trypanosoma cruzi infection in Triatoma infestans and high levels of human–vector contact across a rural-to-urban gradient in the Argentine Chaco

Table 2 Distribution of T. cruzi infection in T. infestans according to blood meal source, Avia Terai, Chaco, 2015–2016

Blood meal source	Infective blood meal index (no. reactive bugs)
Blood meal source	Peri-urban environment	Rural environment	Total
Humans	29.0 (31)	9.0 (67)	15.3 (98)
Dogs	12.1 (33)	8.2 (49)	9.8 (82)
Cats	6.7 (15)	27.3 (22)	18.9 (37)
Chickens	1.3 (79)^a	5.2 (153)^b	3.9 (232)
Others	0.0 (6)	0.0 (24)	0.0 (30)

The infective blood meal index was estimated as the percentage of T. cruzi-infected bugs with an identified blood meal on host X relative to all bugs examined for T. cruzi infection that had an identified blood meal on host X
^aAll infected triatomines exhibited a mixed blood meal with dogs, cats and humans
^bAll infected triatomines exhibited a mixed blood meal with cats, with two exceptions

ISSN: 1756-3305