Climatic factors influencing triatomine occurrence in Central-West Brazil

• Main Authors: Joyce Mendes Pereira, Paulo Silva de Almeida, Adair Vieira de Sousa, Aecio Moraes de Paula, Ricardo Bomfim Machado, Rodrigo Gurgel-Goncalves
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde 2013-05-01
• Series: Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz.
• Subjects: Triatominae; ecological niches; Central-West Brazil; entomological surveillance; Chagas disease
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0074-02762013000300335&lng=en&tlng=en

We estimated the geographic distributions of triatomine species in Central-West Region of Brazil (CW) and analysed the climatic factors influencing their occurrence. A total of 3,396 records of 27 triatomine species were analysed. Using the maximum entropy method, ecological niche models were produced for eight species occurring in at least 20 municipalities based on 13 climatic variables and elevation. Triatoma sordida and Rhodnius neglectus were the species with the broadest geographic distributions in CW Brazil. The Cerrado areas in the state of Goiás were found to be more suitable for the occurrence of synanthropic triatomines than the Amazon forest areas in the northern part of the state of Mato Grosso. The variable that best explains the evaluated models is temperature seasonality. The results indicate that almost the entire region presents climatic conditions that are appropriate for at least one triatomine species. Therefore, it is recommended that entomological surveillance be reinforced in CW Brazil.