Jp. Dujardin et al., THE USE OF MORPHOMETRICS IN ENTOMOLOGICAL SURVEILLANCE OF SYLVATIC FOCI OF TRIATOMA-INFESTANS IN BOLIVIA, Acta Tropica, 66(3), 1997, pp. 145-153
Jamach'uma (Cochabamba, Bolivia) is a small village surrounded by sylv
atic foci of Triatoma infestans. Houses in the village were also infes
ted with T. infestans, and were sprayed in December 1992 as part of a
Chagas disease vector control trial. Ten months later the houses were
found to be again infested with a few fifth instar nymphs of T. infest
ans. These nymphs were compared by seven head measurements with 36 fif
th instar nymphs collected from houses in Jamach'uma before treatment,
and with two sets of nymphs originating from the surrounding sylvatic
foci: eight specimens collected in 1992 and nine specimens collected
in 1995. The results are discussed in relation to the possible mechani
sms of the apparent reinfestation: recrudescence of a residual domesti
c population or reinvasion of the houses from surrounding sylvatic foc
i. Quantitative comparisons support the former hypothesis. (C) 1997 El
sevier Science B.V.