Abstract
The reduviid, Triatoma protracta Uhler, was reported to be a carrier of Trypanosoma cruzi Chagas, the haematozoon causing American human trypanosomiasis. 1 Examinations have revealed that the feces of 40 out of 73, or 54%, of a group of Triatoma from San Diego County were infected with T. cruzi, Triatoma from the vicinities of Berkeley and Los Angeles have not shown trypano-somes in their digestive tracts.
The San Diego wood rat has been incriminated as a reservoir host of T. cruzi. Of 43 rats examined only one was infected. This was a light infection and was detected by examination of centrifuged, citrated heart blood. The trypanosome infecting this rat was identical in morphology and behavior with that found in animals infected experimentally from Triatoma feces, and also with a known strain of T. cruzi from Professor Brumpt's Paris laboratory.
The southern parasitic mouse, the San Diego desert mouse, and the Virginia opossum, all associated with San Diego wood rats in nature, are more susceptible to the infection in the laboratory than the rats themselves, so it is possible that they, too, may be natural carriers of this trypanosome.
Portola wood rats, from Berkeley, harbor a trypanosome of the “lewisi” type which should not be confused with T. cruzi.
One hundred thirty-four animals, including 16 species, have been inoculated with the California strain of T. cruzi. The following list gives the species and number of animals inoculated, the number in parenthesis indicating how many animals became infected: 53 (30) albino Norway rats, 23 (7) albino mice, 2(1) puppies, 2(1) Virginia opossums, 4 (3) rhesus monkeys, 12 (7) San Diego wood rats, 3(1) Portola wood rats, 5 species of white-footed mice [4 (4) parasitic, 9 (8) southern parasitic, 3 (3) San Diego desert, 5 (1) Gambel, 3(1) Gilbert], 2 (0) rabbits, 6 (0) guinea pigs, 3 (0) kittens, and 1 (0) desert antelope ground squirrel.
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