Investigation of an outbreak of acute Chagas disease outside the Amazon Region, in Rio Grande do Norte State, Brazil, 2016

Alexander Vargas, Juliane Maria Alves Siqueira Malta, Veruska Maia da Costa, Leandro Del Grande Cláudio, Renato Vieira Alves, Gilmar da Silva Cordeiro, Lúcia Maria Abrantes Aguiar, Jadher Percio

The aim of this article was to confirm and describe an outbreak of acute Chagas disease involving oral transmission in the western region of Rio Grande do Norte State, Brazil. This was a descriptive case series study in which the data sources were medical records and interviews with suspected cases from September 16 to November 19, 2015. An entomological investigation was conducted in the probable sites of infection for acute Chagas disease cases. Eighteen cases of acute Chagas disease were confirmed in residents of four municipalities (counties) in Rio Grande do Norte State. The most frequently reported signs and symptoms were fever and weakness (n = 18), followed by myalgia (n = 17), prostration, loss of appetite, and edema of the lower limbs (n = 15). Median duration of fever was 20 days (range: 6 to 45 days). Fifteen cases were confirmed by the laboratory criterion and three by epidemiological link with consistent clinical characteristics. All confirmed cases reported having consumed sugar cane juice from the same mill. A total of 110 triatomines were captured on the plantation where the sugar cane had been crushed for juice. The insects were found in the peridomicile, in stacks of firewood and close to the sugar cane mill. The majority of the captured specimens were Triatoma brasiliensis and showed a natural infection rate of 63%. The Chagas disease outbreak was confirmed with oral transmission via ingestion of sugar cane juice contaminated with infected triatomines, as evidenced by the epidemiological link between the investigated cases and the entomological survey in the probable site where the infection occurred.