Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons^™

Much Needed Studies Of The Three Players Of Chagas Disease In Central America: Vertebrate Blood Meal Sources And Ecohealth, A New Vector Species Description, And Key Phylogenetic Analysis Of The Trypanosome Parasite., Raquel Asuncion Lima Cordon

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi (Trypanosomatida: Trypanosomatidae) is the etiological agent of Chagas disease, reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) as responsible for over 10,000 deaths in 2015. Chagas disease is considered a Neglected Tropical Disease by the WHO, this designation highlights the challenges to overcoming the disease as it afflicts the most vulnerable populations, mainly the rural poor in Latin America. Understanding T. cruzi transmission dynamics is particularly difficult because it can be vectored by over 150 species of Triatominae insects, and all mammal species are potential hosts. Thus, results from one locale may not be generalizable to …