Triatoma infestans

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Triatoma infestans
Triatoma infestans 1st nymph on a human host
Triatoma infestans 1st nymph on a human host
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Family: Reduviidae
Subfamily: Triatominae
Genus: Triatoma
Species: T. infestans
Dorsal view of triatoma infestans
Dorsal view of triatoma infestans

Triatoma infestans is a blood-sucking bug (like all the members of its subfamily Triatominae) and the most important vector of Chagas disease. It is widespread in the Southern Cone countries of South America; that is, in Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Brazil and Peru. In all these countries T. infestans is almost an exclusively domestic species, except in Bolivia where sylvatic forms have been recorded in rock piles in association with wild guinea pigs. This region has joined the control intervention called Southern Cone Initiative managed by the PAHO.

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