New Triatoma virus hosts in wild habitats of Argentina

Abstract

Triatoma virus (TrV), a member of the . Dicistroviridae family, replicates in intestinal epithelial cells, causing delayed development and death of infected individuals. The aims of this study were to find naturally infected species of Triatominae in the wild in the region endemic for Chagas disease and analyze and compare the sequence diversity of TrV obtained from different Triatominae. A total of 253 Triatominae belonging to 10 species were captured by active or passive collection. Three new sequences were obtained from . Triatoma infestans, Triatoma delpontei and . Psammolestes coreodes and the analysis revealed that these sequences were very similar. Ps. coreodes is a new host for TrV.