Abstract
Little is known on the role played by Neotropical wild carnivores in the Trypanosoma cruzi transmission cycles. We investigated T. cruzi infection in wild carnivores from three sites in Brazil through parasitological and serological tests. The seven carnivore species examined were infected by T. cruzi, but high parasitemias detectable by hemoculture were found only in two Procyonidae species. Genotyping by Mini-exon gene, PCR-RFLP (1f8/Akw21I) and kDNA genomic targets revealed that the raccoon (Procyon cancrivorus) harbored TcI and the coatis (Nasua nasua) harbored TcI, TcII, TcIII-IV and Trypanosoma rangeli, in single and mixed infections, besides four T. cruzi isolates that displayed odd band patterns in the Mini-exon assay. These findings corroborate the coati can be a bioaccumulator of T. cruzi Discrete Typing Units (DTU) and may act as a transmission hub, a connection point joining sylvatic transmission cycles within terrestrial and arboreal mammals and vectors. Also, the odd band patterns observed in coatis’ isolates reinforce that T. cruzi diversity might be much higher than currently acknowledged. Additionally, we assembled our data with T. cruzi infection on Neotropical carnivores’ literature records to provide a comprehensive analysis of the infection patterns among distinct carnivore species, especially considering their ecological traits and phylogeny. Altogether, fifteen Neotropical carnivore species were found naturally infected by T. cruzi. Species diet was associated with T. cruzi infection rates, supporting the hypothesis that predator-prey links are important mechanisms for T. cruzi maintenance and dispersion in the wild. Distinct T. cruzi infection patterns across carnivore species and study sites were notable. Musteloidea species consistently exhibit high parasitemias in different studies which indicate their high infectivity potential. Mesocarnivores that feed on both invertebrates and mammals, including the coati, a host that can be bioaccumulator of T. cruzi DTU’s, seem to take place at the top of the T. cruzi transmission chain.
Highlights
The hemoflagellate protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi is a multihost parasite that infects mammalian species from eight orders and dozens of triatomine species, the insect vectors [1,2]
The two ocelots examined tested positive in the Immunofluorescent Antibody Test (IFAT) and the other three carnivore species were exposed to T. cruzi infection, as no significant differences was found in the seroprevalence rates among them (x2 = 3.62, df = 2, p,0.16)
Fourteen Neotropical carnivore species belonging to five families were already described to be infected by T. cruzi in Argentine, Brazil, Chile and Colombia
Summary
The hemoflagellate protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi is a multihost parasite that infects mammalian species from eight orders and dozens of triatomine species, the insect vectors [1,2]. This parasite is the etiological agent of Chagas disease, one of the most important parasitic infections in Latin America [1,3]. From the distinct T. cruzi infection routes, nowadays the oral route has increasing importance due to the high number of oral infection outbreaks in the last decades in Brazil and other Latin American countries [4,5] This current epidemiological scenario challenges health authorities because previously employed control measures are not effective against this scenario. Despite having been recognized by Carlos Chagas as an enzootic parasite already when he described this taxon more than one century ago [6], there are still many open questions regarding the T. cruzi ecology and transmission in sylvatic environments
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