Abstract
Wild animals infected with Paracoccidioides brasiliensis represent important indicators of this fungal agent presence in the environment. The detection of this pathogen in road-killed wild animals has shown to be a key strategy for eco-epidemiological surveillance of paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM), helping to map hot spots for human infection. Molecular detection of P. brasiliensis in wild animals from PCM outbreak areas has not been performed so far. The authors investigated the presence of P. brasiliensis through nested-PCR in tissue samples obtained from road-killed animals collected nearby a human PCM outbreak spot, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil and border areas. Eighteen species of mammals were analyzed: Dasypus novemcinctus (nine-banded armadillo, n = 6), Cerdocyon thous (crab-eating fox, n = 4), Coendou spinosus (hairy dwarf porcupine, n = 2), Lontra longicaudis (Neotropical river otter, n = 1), Procyon cancrivorus (crab-eating raccoon, n = 1), Galactis cuja (lesser grison, n = 1), Tamandua tetradactyla (collared anteater, n = 1), Cuniculus paca (paca, n = 1), and Bradypus variegatus (brown-throated three-toed sloth, n = 1). Specific P. brasiliensis sequences were detected in the liver, spleen, and lymph node samples from 4/6 (66.7%) D. novemcinctus, reinforcing the importance of these animals on Paracoccidioides ecology. Moreover, lymph nodes samples from two C. thous, as well as lung samples from the C. paca were also positive. A literature review of Paracoccidioides spp. in vertebrates in Brazil indicates C. thous and C. paca as new hosts for the fungal pathogen P. brasiliensis.
Highlights
Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is a systemic fungal infection occurring in Latin America caused by dimorphic fungi of the genus Paracoccidioides whose major known hosts are humans and armadillos
This study aims to investigate the occurrence of P. brasiliensis in road-killed wild mammals nearby a PCM outbreak spot in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, and border areas
The sequences generated in this study presented 99.68 to 100% of identity with the ITS sequence of P. brasiliensis (MN519724.1)
Summary
Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is a systemic fungal infection occurring in Latin America caused by dimorphic fungi of the genus Paracoccidioides whose major known hosts are humans and armadillos. In 2010, a cluster of acute PCM cases was described in the hyperendemic area of Botucatu, São Paulo state, Brazil, which was associated to climate changes related to a high intensity El Niño Southern Oscillation [2]. According to an extensive review of PCM epidemiology, no outbreaks of this fungal disease were described up to 2017 [1]. Acute PCM outbreaks have been reported in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil and in Northeast Argentina, associated with the construction of a new road (Raphael de Almeida Magalhães highway, BR-493) and one of the biggest hydroelectric dams of South America, respectively [3,4]
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