The use of live-bait traps for the study of sylvatic Rhodnius populations (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) in palm trees

Abstract

Chagas disease is a major public health challenge for most Latin American countries. An initiative for the coordinated control of Chagas disease transmission throughout the Andean countries was launched in 1997. Since the early 1990s, control measures based on elimination of domestic/peridomestic triatomine colonies and screening of donor blood by serological testing have resulted in a reduction in incidence of ~70% in the Southern Cone countries (WHO, 1991; Dias & Schofield, 1999; Moncayo, 1999; WHO/CTD, 2000).