La información de 10 departamentos del total de 31 que contempla este manuscrito, ha sido publicada en "Memorias Primer Taller Internacional Sobre Control de la Enfermedad de Chagas. Curso de Diagnóstico, Manejo y Tratamiento de la Enfermedad de Chagas. VI Reunión de la Iniciativa Andina para el Control de la Enfermedad de Chagas, Bogotá; 2005. p.25-41. La presente publicación recopila la información de registros de triatominos y datos sobre infección natural con tripanosomátidos a nivel departamental y municipal, publicada hasta la fecha así como la reportada por los servicios departamentales de salud e institutos de investigación. Se presentan figuras elaboradas de acuerdo a la información suministrada por los registros y una clasificación de la fauna triatomínica de acuerdo a las condiciones ecoepidemiológicas del país, teniendo en cuenta la altitud como factor determinante en la distribución de estos insectos. Teniendo en cuenta la frecuencia con que se reportan en el domicilio y peridomicilio, se consideran las siguientes especies como las de mayor riesgo de transmisión en Colombia: Rhodnius prolixus, Triatoma dimidiata, Triatoma maculata y Triatoma venosa. Se resalta la importancia de la vigilancia entomológica como herramienta indispensable para reforzar las estrategias de control de la transmisión de la enfermedad de Chagas, permitiendo también la evaluación del riesgo que representan las especies de triatominos silvestres en Colombia.Palabras clave: Triatominae, ecología de vectores, ubicaciones geográficas, enfermedad de Chagas, control vectorial. Updated geographical distribution and ecoepidemiology of the triatomine fauna (Reduviidae: Triatominae) in ColombiaInformation concerning triatomine records from provinces and municipalities was accumulatedincluding data indicating natural infections with trypanosomatides-that has been previously published or reported by Colombian provincial health services and research institutes. Altitude appeared to be the main factor responsible for the distribution of the insects. Illustrations summarize the information provided by the above records. A triatomine fauna classification is presented that corresponds to the eco-epidemiological conditions of the country, considering altitude as the factor determining the geographical distribution of these vectors. Rhodnius prolixus, Triatoma dimidiata, Triatoma maculata and Triatoma venosa are considered the major transmission risk species in Colombia, according to the frequency in which they are reported inside dwellings and peridomiciliary areas. Entomological surveillance providess a necessary tool to reinforce the control strategies for Chagas disease. This also allows the evaluation of transmission risk that the sylvatic triatomines represent in Colombia.

infestans, T. dimidiata and T. brasiliensis).The other species are less efficient vectors and are more limited in their geographic distribution, except for P. megistus (WHO 2007).The T. cruzi transmission rate is influenced by many factors, including insect density, the reproductive frequency of T. cruzi, the possibility of insect interactions with humans or other important reservoirs, their longevity, human and reservoir susceptibility to infection, vector and reservoir distribution related to human populations, vector and reservoir infection rates and the duration of parasitaemia (Schofield 1994). Vectorial controlDifferent from autochthonous vector species, domiciliated species such as T. infestans in the Southern Cone and R. prolixus in Central America are considered to be introduced species that have become adapted to human habitat due to their passive transport by human migration over time. They show a high degree of susceptibility to pyrethroid insecticides.When it is known that vectors have become domiciliated and are actively responsible for transmission, spraying residual action insecticides is not questioned, given that the insecticides represent a means of immediate control to alleviate the suffering of inhabitants who have been in contact with vector insects within the last 6-8 months. Residual action insecticides are not permanent. After the product's residual action time has passed, a second spraying cycle is necessary. This, in turn, is temporary, and it is possible for the house to become reinfested once again. This is when control programmes must establish an entomological surveillance component to impede re-infestation efforts, especially by adventitious sylvatic species.It is clear that using a particular control method does not exclude using another one. Chemical control must complement other efforts such as improving rural housing, managing the environment and ordering the peridomiciliary area where autochthonous vector insect species are frequently found.A series of standards and stages in the technical and operational levels must be followed consistently for the control programme to be effective. To control Chagas disease, it is necessary to prevent parasite transmission by its two main mechanisms (vectorial and transfusional) and to complement this prevention with a secondary level of prevention in terms of medical and social attention for infected people. The key elements to such a programme, which has been proven successful, have been previously described by several authors (Schofield &

Surveillance of a few easily assessed household characteristics provides an accurate, rapid assessment of house-level variation in risk. Measured effect sizes for specific structural characteristics could be used to maximize the cost-effectiveness of programmes to reduce vector infestation and interrupt Chagas disease transmission by improving house quality.

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The phlebotomine sandfly fauna of traditional (shaded) and intensified (unshaded) coffee plantations in Colombia was sampled by a variety of methods and the species composition and density under the two systems compared. Twenty species of Lutzomyia sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae) were collected, of which eight were found only in the 'Coffee Axis' ('Eje Cafetero') of the departments of Caldas, Risaralda and Quindio, six were exclusive to the department of Norte de Santander and six occurred in both regions. Four species were collected only in traditional plantations and two exclusively in intensified ones. At least 13 species occurred in both plantation types. Fifteen species are opportunistic man-biters and eight are suspected vectors of leishmaniasis caused by Le. braziliensis, Le. panamensis or Le. mexicana. Seven species were collected inside houses and may be involved in intradomiciliary transmission of Leishmania. The dominant species in Norte de Santander was Lu. spinicrassa, which made up 93.8% of all the sandflies collected in this department. This species was absent from the Eje Cafetero and a number of others among the 15 recorded there might be responsible for Leishmania transmission in this region, including Lu. trapidoi, Lu. yuilli, Lu. gomezi, L. hartmanni and Lu. ovallesi. Sandfly population densities were significantly higher in traditional plantations than in intensified ones. Residents of traditional plantations were able to describe sandflies in significantly more detail than those of intensified plantations, based on seven basic characteristics related to the appearance and biting behaviour of the insects.