Veterinary Parasitology 178 (2011) 360–363 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Veterinary Parasitology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/vetpar Short communication Prevalence of trypanosome infections in dogs from Chagas disease endemic regions in Panama, Central America V. Pineda a , A. Salda ˜ na a,b , I. Monfante b , A. Santamaría a , N.L. Gottdenker c , M.J. Yabsley d , G. Rapoport c , J.E. Calzada a,b,∗ a Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud, ICGES, Panama b Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria, Universidad de Panamá, Panama c Department of Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA d Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources and the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, Department of Population Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA article info Article history: Received 31 July 2010 Received in revised form 15 December 2010 Accepted 22 December 2010 Keywords: Chagas disease Dogs Trypanosoma rangeli Trypanosoma cruzi Rhodnius pallescens Panama abstract The prevalence of canine trypanosomosis was investigated in two Chagas disease endemic rural communities located in the central region of Panama. Serologic tests for Trypanosoma cruzi infection revealed a prevalence of 11.1%. Hemocultures coupled with PCR analysis demonstrated a Trypanosoma rangeli infection rate of 5.1%. An overall trypanosome infec- tion index of 16.2% (16/99) was detected in this canine population. One dog had a mixed infection of T. cruzi and T. rangeli. Six of the trypanosome-infected dogs belong to peo- ple who were diagnosed of Chagas disease. We conclude that dogs from this rural area of Panama are frequently infected with trypanosomes transmitted by the sylvatic vector, Rhodnius pallescens, and suggest that dogs are important in the peridomestic transmission cycle of trypanosomes as reservoirs and hosts. The epidemiological implications of these findings are discussed. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Chagas disease remains a major parasitic zoonosis in Latin America, affecting 9.8–11 million people, with 60 million at risk of infection, and a disease burden of over 800,000 disability-adjusted life years (WHO, 2004; Schofield et al., 2006; Tarleton et al., 2007). The infection is caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, a protozoan parasite natu- rally transmitted to mammalsby bloodsucking triatomine insects. In endemic areas, humans and animals become infected primarily through contact with trypanosome- infected excreta from triatomines. The sylvatic triatomine, ∗ Corresponding author at: Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estu- dios de la Salud, Apartado Postal No. 0816-02593, Panama. Tel.: +507 527 4811; fax: +507 527 4889. E-mail address: jcalzada@gorgas.gob.pa (J.E. Calzada). Rhodnius pallescens is considered the main vector of T. cruzi and the only known vector of Trypanosma rangeli in Panama (Pipkin, 1968; Sousa and Johnson, 1973). Although non- pathogenic to humans and animals, T. rangeli is considered a trypanosome of biological and epidemiological concern (Palau et al., 2003; Basso et al., 2004). Chagas disease control strategies largely depend on the epidemiological transmission pattern in a particular region. In domestic cycles where the vector has colonized houses, interventions based on the elimination of domicil- iated triatomines by residual insecticide spraying and/or housing improvement have resulted in a significant reduc- tion in Chagas disease transmission to humans (Dias et al., 2002; Moncayo, 2003). However, in many countries non- domiciliated vectors remain responsible for a significant transmission risk (Barbu et al., 2009), and their control poses a challenge for disease control. This is the current epi- demiological scenario in Central Panama where sylvatic R. 0304-4017/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2010.12.043