Knowledge and seroprevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi in dogs in Valledupar, Colombia

Objective. Determine the seroprevalence of IgG antibodies against Trypanosoma cruzi in dogs in the city of Valledupar, department of Cesar in Colombia, as a possible Chagas disease sentinel species. Materials and methods. An awareness talk was given and a survey applied to participants regarding knowledge of Chagas disease, previously standardized by the Instituto National de Salud (INS – Colombia). A total of 80 dog samples were tested using an ELISA recombinant Chagatest v3.0. Sample reading was done using an ELISA strip reader Stat Fax 303 Plus and statistical analyses were done with SPSS v.22.0. Results. Data captured by 66 surveys indicates 37.88% of people relate the insect vector and the symptoms with the pathology; most of the surveyed performed vector control at home (cleaning, fumigation). Of the 80 samples evaluated, 95% were negative and 5% positive. No significant association was found between the variables breed, sex and age, and seropositivity to T. cruzi. Conclusions. Identification of seropositive samples in dogs represents an important epidemiological indicator for the Caribbean region and the department of Cesar. Implementation of strategies to strengthen interinstitutional alliances for disease monitoring are recommended, including the use of dogs as sentinel species. This is the first report of seroprevalence of T. cruzi in dogs in Valledupar, Colombia and is expected to increase the knowledge on the behavior of the infection in domestic reservoirs of the region.