The migration of invasive vector species has contributed to the worldwide extension of infectious diseases such as dengue (Aedes aegypti) and chikungunya (Aedes albopictus). It is probably a similar behaviour for certain vectors of Chagas disease which allowed it to become a continental burden in Latin America. One of them, Triatoma rubrofasciata has also been spreading throughout the tropical and subtropical world. Here, the recent and massive peridomestic presence of T. rubrofasciata in Vietnam cities is reported, and tentatively explained, highlighting the need for improved entomological surveillance.

The multiplicity of epidemiological scenarios shown by Chagas Disease, derived from multiple transmission routes of the aetiological agent, occurring on multiple geo-ecobiosocial settings determines the complexity of the disease and reveal the difficulties for its control. From the first description of the link between the parasite, the vector and its domestic habitat and the disease that Carlos Chagas made in 1909, the epidemiological scenarios of the American Trypanosomiasis has shown a dynamic increasing complexity. These scenarios changed with time and geography because of new understandings of the disease from multiple studies, because of policies change at the national and international levels and because human movements brought the parasite and vectors to new geographies. Paradigms that seemed solid at a time were broken down, and we learnt about the global dispersion of Trypanosoma cruzi infection, the multiplicity of transmission routes, that the infection can be cured, and that triatomines are not only a health threat in Latin America. We consider the multiple epidemiological scenarios through the different T. cruzi transmission routes, with or without the participation of a Triatominae vector. We then consider the scenario of regions with vectors without the parasite, to finish with the consideration of future prospects.

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The complete sequence of the mitochondrial (mt) genome of the assassin bug, Sirthenea flavipes (Stål), was determined. The circular genome is 15, 961 bp long and contains a standard gene complement, i.e., the large and small ribosomal RNA (rRNA) subunits, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), and the 1, 295 bp control region. The nucleotide composition of S. flavipes mt genome is 71.8% AT-rich, reflected in the predominance of AT-rich codons in PCGs. Compared with the other three reduviid species available in complete mt genomes, the genome architecture as well as the nucleotide composition, codon usage, and amino acid composition reflected high similarity. All PCGs use standard initiation codons (ATN); however, ND4L and ND1 started with GTG. Canonical TAA and TAG termination codons are found in nine PCGs, the remaining four (COIII, ND3, ND5, and ND1) have incomplete termination codons. All tRNAs have the typical cloverleaf structure, except the dihydrouridine (DHU) arm of tRNA Ser (AGN) forms a simple loop as seen in many other metazoans. Secondary structure models of the ribosomal RNA genes of S. flavipes are presented and are similar to those proposed for other insects. The structure of rrnL is more conservative than that of rrnS among sequenced assassin bugs. The monophyly of Reduviidae is highly supported by Bayesian inferences, and the Peiratinae presents a sister position to the Triatominae+ (Salyavatinae + Harpactorinae).