Abstract
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a zoonotic and severe neglected tropical disease, with worldwide distribution, that still cause many deaths among dogs and humans. Brazil is the country responsible for about 97% of the cases of leishmaniasis in the Americas and the disease is still considered a serious public health concern. Among wild mammalians, studies demonstrate the involvement of Cerdocyon thous in the biological cycle of Leishmania. Nevertheless, several authors consider the clinical manifestation of the disease to be rare or mild in free-living animals. Herein, we demonstrate the occurrence of severe clinical sings and deaths caused by VL in free-living crab-eating foxes. Three specimens of foxes collected from periurban areas were diagnosed with VL. The animals presented cutaneous, ophthalmological, gastrointestinal, locomotor and hematological alterations, and died after clinical progression. We identified the presence of anti-Leishmania antibodies by immunochromatographic test in all specimens. We also observed intra and extracellular amastigotes in skin cytology and lymph node aspirate. Furthermore, Leishmania infantum DNA was identified in all samples by the polymer chain reaction technique. Additionally, we performed blood count and stool parasitological tests and observed hematological disorders common to VL, such as anemia and lymphopenia. Taken together, our data demonstrate that VL can induce clinical complications and even cause death in C. thous and corroborate that this crab-eating fox is an adequate host for L. infantum.
Highlights
Leishmaniasis is a group of severe and neglected tropical parasitic diseases, caused by protozoa of the genusLeishmania, and transmitted by the bite of an infected female phlebotomine sandfly (WHO 2020)
This study describes new insights on clinical manifestations of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) on C. thous naturally infected by L. infantum and rescued in a fragment of Atlantic Forest close to an urban area of Northeastern Brazil
Our data demonstrate the occurrence of severe clinical signs of VL in free-living crab-eating foxes, which died after the clinical course of the disease
Summary
Leishmaniasis is a group of severe and neglected tropical parasitic diseases, caused by protozoa of the genusLeishmania, and transmitted by the bite of an infected female phlebotomine sandfly (WHO 2020). Leishmaniasis is a group of severe and neglected tropical parasitic diseases, caused by protozoa of the genus. VL is the most severe form and can progress to death in 100% of cases within two years if left untreated (Dantas-Torres 2007; WHO 2020). Animals affected by leishmaniasis can develop different clinical signs, not well delimited by clinical form as in humans, such as asymptomatic to severe and lethal forms of the disease (Jorge et al 2010; Souza et al 2014). Several infectious and parasitic diseases can affect wild and domestic animals and have increasing interest of the scientific community in the last decades, especially the zoonoses, in virtue of their potential for transmission to humans and impact on public health. Brazil is among the ten countries with the highest incidence of VL worldwide and, in 2018, registered about 97% of all cases in the Americas (Santos 2019; WHO 2020; Ribeiro 2021)
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