A single polymerase chain reaction (PCR) reaction targeting the spliced-leader intergenic region of
Trypanosoma cruzi
I was standardised by amplifying a 231 bp fragment in domestic (TcI
DOM) strains or clones and 450 and 550 bp fragments in sylvatic strains or clones. This reaction was validated using 44 blind coded samples and 184 non-coded
T. cruzi I clones isolated from sylvatic triatomines and the correspondence between the amplified fragments and their domestic or sylvatic origin was determined. Six of the nine strains isolated from acute cases suspected of oral infection had the sylvatic
T. cruzi I profile. These results confirmed that the sylvatic
T. cruzi I genotype is linked to cases of oral Chagas disease in Colombia. We therefore propose the use of this novel PCR reaction in strains or clones previously characterised as
T. cruzi I to distinguish Tc
IDOM from sylvatic genotypes in studies of transmission dynamics, including the verification of population selection within hosts or detection of the frequency of mixed infections by both
T. cruzi I genotypes in Colombia.
