: Chagas disease or American trypanosomiasis is an infection caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. According to its genetic characteristics, this parasite is divided into six groups (TcI–TcVI) called discrete typing units (DTUs). Trypanosoma cruzi is transmitted to humans by insects of the Triatominae family. In Mexico, despite having a great variety of triatomine species, little is known about vector sylvatic populations and the DTUs associated with them. In this work, molecular markers such as minicircle, miniexon, 18S, and 24S ribosomal genes and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the hsp70 gene were used to determine the DTUs present in vectors from rural communities and sylvatic areas inside the Biosphere Reserve Los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, in southeast Mexico. One hundred triatomines were collected and two species were identified: Triatoma dimidiata and Panstrongylus rufotuberculatus. The infection with T. cruzi was determined in 29% of analyzed vectors from the domestic area and TcI was the predominant DTU. Furthermore, 71% of vectors from the sylvatic environment were infected and TcI, TcII, TcIV, and TcVI were identified. One female and one male of P. rufotuberculatus were infected only with TcI. This is the first report of TcVI in T. dimidiata from the sylvatic area in México and the first report of P. rufotuberculatus infected with T. cruzi in Mexico.

Urbanization has transformed more than 50% of the land area and brought the emergence of a new humanized-based ecosystem. In answer to this, urban systems have looked for become resilient. Thus, urban landscapes must enhance their resilience capacities; robustness, adaptability, and transformability. However, there is a necessity of a well performing and easy gathering indicators. In this paper, we propose that bats are a good indicator of city’s capacity to be resilient. We used bat permanence, species diversity, and activities to analyze Mexico City resilience capacities. We used citizen science to register bat sounds around the city. From these data we identified bat species and two main activities: passes and hunting buzzes. Data showed that the east and center area of the city had the lower species richness and relative abundance, while south was the richest. This diversity patterns were in response to different habitat characteristics, mainly those related to landscape. However, activities and permanence were strongly related with human presence. The bat permanence modeled, indicated that bat community structure could be shaped under changing scenarios. Due to their differential sensitivity bats are good indicators of habitat changes in urban landscapes. Cities seeking resilience should perform planned-habitat management to achieve a bat-friendly status and promote the ecosystem services that bats can provide.

The primary transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi, causative agent of Chagas disease, to humans and animals is through the feces and urine of Triatominae. Therefore, knowledge of their ecology and distribution is crucial for establishing effective surveillance programs with citizen participation. This is coupled with geographic distribution models to predict the risk of transmission in the areas most affected by Chagas disease. Therefore, this study aims to: a) document and validate citizen participation on the iNaturalist in the collection and observation of triatomines, as well as exploring risk factors; b) detect natural T. cruzi infection in triatomines using molecular and parasitological methods; c) to review the historical and recent literature of Triatoma gerstaeckeri (Stål 1859) in Mexico, and d) develop current and potential distribution models of T. gerstaeckeri to infer risk zones for parasite transmission in Mexico. Data of T. gerstaeckeri were collected from three sources: iNaturalist (n = 87), fieldwork data (n = 68), and scientific articles and theses (n = 882). iNaturalist observations were validated from photographs, specimen capture, and distribution overlap. The prevalence of natural infection by T. cruzi was 21.73 % (5/23) in T. gerstaeckeri from Nuevo Leon, with DTU strains TcI and TcIII, the first reports of DTU in the state. Citizen participation data like iNaturalist can potentially document the presence of triatomines at broad spatial scales. Still, they also represent an opportunity to engage and educate the public in the surveillance and control of these insect vectors associated with Chagas disease.

Introduction: Trypanosoma spp. and Leishmania spp. are protozoan parasites of public health importance. Bats can act as hosts, but evidence from Mexico remains fragmented and has rarely been examined within a One Health spatial framework. The Maya Train and the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (ICIT) were included because they represent drivers of landscape transformation in southern Mexico, where most pathogen-positive bat records are concentrated. Methods: We reviewed publications from 2001 to 2025 reporting detection of Trypanosoma spp. or Leishmania spp. in bats. Epidemiological and spatial variables were compiled. We georeferenced 54 pathogen-locality records, of which 14 provided sufficient information to estimate site-level prevalence. Distances to human settlements, roads, the ICIT, the Maya Train, and protected areas were analyzed in QGIS, and exploratory point-pattern, binomial generalized linear, and sensitivity analyses were conducted for presence and prevalence data. Results: Fourteen studies documented infection in 21 species of bats, mostly phyllostomids from southeastern Mexico. Site-level prevalence ranged from 1.4% to 69.5%, with variation in Wilson confidence intervals. Most detections occurred within 0–2 km of human settlements and roads, whereas distances to the ICIT, the Maya Train, and protected areas spanned gradients. Point-pattern analyses indicated clustered spatial structure, and among prevalence-based models, the association with road distance was most robust after outlier removal. Discussion: Records of Trypanosoma spp. and Leishmania spp. in bats were spatially structured in heterogeneous landscapes where settlements, roads, protected areas, and infrastructure-related polygons coexist. Although the compiled evidence remains uneven and the spatial analyses were exploratory, the results support the view that landscape transformation is relevant to of bat-associated trypanosomatid records and should be incorporated into future One Health surveillance and territorial planning.