Occurrence of a Trypanosoma cruzi-like Organism in Some Mammals from Southwestern Georgia and Northwestern Florida

Abstract

Report of the occurrence of American trypanosomiasis (Chagas' disease) in the United States (Woody and Woody, 1955) has alerted workers in the field to the possibility that the disease may occur elsewhere in the southern United States. The etiologic agent of the disease, Trypanosoma cruzi, is known to have been present in this country since 1933 when it was isolated from Triatoma protracta by Kofoid and Donat (Wood and Wood, 1941). Since then, it has been found in other Triatoma spp. and in mammalian hosts as well. The following mammals have been reported as hosts of T. cruzi in the United States: armadillo, opossum, pallid bat, house mouse, 3 species of wood rats (Usinger, 1944), and the raccoon (Walton et al, 1956). In the present study, a T. cruzi-like organism was detected in wild mammals from southwestern Georgia and northwestern Florida while studying the epizootiology of leptospirosis in that area. This paper reports the isolation of the organism from 107 animals representing 4 species.