Article
Trypanosoma cruzi among wild and domestic mammals in different areas of the Abaetetuba municipality (Pará State, Brazil), an endemic Chagas disease transmission area
Registro en:
ROQUE, André Luiz R.; et al. Trypanosoma cruzi among wild and domestic mammals in different areas of the Abaetetuba municipality (Pará State, Brazil), an endemic Chagas disease transmission area. Veterinary Parasitology, v.193, n.1–3, p. 71–77, March 2013.
0304-4017
10.1016/j.vetpar.2012.11.028
Autor
Roque, André Luiz R.
Xavier, Samantha C. C.
Gerhardt, Marconny
Silva, Miguel F. O.
Lima, Valdirene S.
D'Andrea, Paulo S.
Jansen, Ana Maria
Resumen
The presence of acute Chagas disease (ACD) due to oral transmission is growing and
expanding in several South American countries. Within the Amazon basin, the Abaetetuba
municipality has been a site of recurrent cases spanning across distinct landscapes. Because
Chagas disease is primarily a zoonotic infection, we compared the enzootic Trypanosoma
cruzi transmission cycles in three different environmental areas of Abaetetuba to better
understand this new epidemiological situation. Philander opossum was the most abundant
mammalian species collected (38% of the collected mammals) with a T. cruzi prevalence of
57%, as determined by hemocultures. Didelphis marsupialis was abundant only in the area
with the higher level of environmental disturbance (approximately 42%) and did not yield
detectable parasitemia. Despite similarities observed in the composition of the small mammalian
fauna and the prevalence of T. cruzi infection among the studied areas, the potential
of these hosts to infect vectors differed significantly according to the degree of land use
(with prevalences of 5%, 41%, and 64% in areas A3, A1 and A2, respectively). Domestic mammals
were also found to be infected, and one canine T. cruzi isolate was obtained. Our data
demonstrated that the transmission of T. cruzi in the Amazon basin is far more complex
than had been previously taught and showed that the probability of humans and domestic
mammals coming into contact with infected bugs can vary dramatically, even within the
same municipality. The exposure of dogs to T. cruzi infection (indicated by positive serology)
was the common feature among the studied localities, stressing the importance of selecting
domestic mammals as sentinels in the identification of T. cruzi transmission hotspots.