[Natural hosts of Trypanosoma cruzi in French Guiana. High endemicity of zymodeme 1 in wild marsupials].

During an epidemiological survey in French Guiana, three species of Marsupiala were found infected by Trypanosoma cruzi with high infection rates (30,8% for Didelphis marsupialis). Six Triatomine bug species were recorded, five of them being well known vectors of Chagas' disease. Iso-enzyme characterization of 22 stocks isolated (16 from D. marsupialis, 3 from Philander opossum and 3 from Rhodnius prolixus) revealed that they were all related to zymodeme 1 of Miles. The silvatic cycle is endemic in the various ecotopes studied. The high prevalence rates of infection in D. marsupialis in the human settlement of Cacao and the finding in this locality of domestic breeding of Rhodnius pictipes lead to suspect the occurrence of a peridomestic cycle in this village. The evidence of R. prolixus colonizing houses in the vicinity of Cayenne emphasizes the risk of Chagas' disease in French Guiana.