Deforestation and human proximity influence Trypanosoma cruzi infection in palm-dwelling triatomines
Gabriel Z Laporta, Leandro J Ramos, Carla M Santana, Wandercleyson U Abreu, Roberto C Ilacqua, Melissa S Nolan, Andreia F Brilhante, Fernanda P Madeira · 2026
Read Deforestation and human proximity influence Trypanosoma cruzi infection in palm-dwelling triatomines by Gabriel Z Laporta, Leandro J Ramos, Carla M Santana, Wandercleyson U Abreu, Roberto C Ilacqua, Melissa S Nolan, Andreia F Brilhante, Fernanda P Madeira (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/plos-pone-0349311.txt.
Description
Gabriel Laporta and colleagues studied how deforestation changes infection in the palm-dwelling insects that carry Chagas disease in the southwestern Brazilian Amazon. These triatomine bugs live in palm crowns and harbor the Chagas parasite and a harmless relative. Field teams surveyed twenty landscape units in 2022 and 2024, collecting bugs from palms at measured distances from homes, with forest cover mapped by drones and satellites.
The two parasites answered the landscape differently. The Chagas parasite became more likely as forest cover fell and homes came closer, while its relative followed a contrasting pattern. The result connects land policy to disease risk in a direct way: clearing forest near houses appears to raise the odds that the insects near people carry the dangerous parasite.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Gabriel Z Laporta, Leandro J Ramos, Carla M Santana, Wandercleyson U Abreu, Roberto C Ilacqua, Melissa S Nolan, Andreia F Brilhante, Fernanda P Madeira |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 28809 |
| LICENSE | CC_BY |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | PLOS |