EMD Seminar Series Brandon Brei Memorial Lecture: Sarah Hamer - "Eco-epidemiology of Chagas disease across the Americas"

Largely considered a neglected tropical disease confined to Latin America, Trypanosoma cruzi infection – Chagas disease – is increasingly recognized as a public and veterinary health concern across the southern United States. The protozoan parasite infects humans, dogs and a wide range of domestic and wild mammals, where transmission is driven by triatomine (‘kissing bug’) insect vectors that shed the protozoan through their feces. A subset of infected individuals develops Chagas disease, often characterized by cardiomyopathy and sometimes fatal outcomes. The broad host range of both the triatomines and the parasite creates ecological complexity that challenges effective control. Our research team established the Kissing Bug Community Science program over 10 years ago, resulting in over 10,000 triatomine submissions across 27 southern U.S. states and 5 countries. More than half of the insects are infected with T. cruzi, and blood meal analysis reveals dogs as the most common hosts, followed by a diversity of wildlife, domestic animals and humans. Major challenges remain in the surveillance and management of Chagas disease, including imperfect diagnostics, limited treatment options, and widespread, highly-infected vectors with few viable control strategies. Our team is advancing diagnostic tools and conducting antiparasitic treatment trials in naturally-infected dogs, with translational potential for human health. We are also piloting the use of systemic insecticides, demonstrating high mortality of triatomines that feed on treated dogs and chickens, as we work toward community-level interventions to reduce vector populations. Ongoing insectary trials of triatomine feeding and defecation behaviors provide a biological basis for patterns observed in the field. Our collaborative studies across Texas, Mexico and Guatemala highlight different epidemiological and ecological settings that shape Chagas disease risk. The growing recognition of endemic transmission in the United States underscores the need for a ‘One Health’ approach to protect humans and animals throughout the Americas.

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