SHORT REPORT C

Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleFindings Trypanosoma cruzi, the aetiological agent of Chagas dis-ease, infects 6-8 million people in Latin America, while some 25 million more are at risk of acquiring the disease [1]. Parasite transmission to mammal hosts, including humans, can occur through contact with the faeces of hematophagous triatomine bugs. However, non-vectorial routes are also recognized, including blood transfusion, organ transplantation, congenital transmission, and oral transmission via ingestion of meals contaminated with infected triatomine feces [2,3]. T. cruzi (family Trypanosomatidae; Euglenozoa: Kinetoplastida) is most closely related to several widely dispersed species of bat trypanosomes [4]. Salivarian try-panosomes including medically important Trypanosom