Trypanosomatids in Small Mammals of an Agroecosystem in Central Brazil: Another Piece in the Puzzle of Parasite Transmission in an Anthropogenic Landscape

We surveyed infection by <i>Trypanosoma</i> spp. and <i>Leishmania</i> spp. in small wild mammals from Cumari, Goi&#225;s State aiming to investigate the diversity of trypanosomatid in a modified landscape of the Brazilian Cerrado (and possible infection overlapping with canids from the same area). Blood, skin, spleen, and liver samples were collected for parasitological, serological, and molecular assays. <i>Gracilinanus agilis</i> was the most abundant species (<i>N</i> = 70; 48.6%) and it was the only one with patent parasitemia. Characterization by mini-exon and 18SrDNA targets were achieved in 7/10 hemocultures with positive fresh blood examination, which confirmed the <i>T. cruzi</i> infection by Discrete Typing Units (DTU) TcI in single (<i>N</i> = 2) and mixed infections with other DTUs (<i>N</i> = 5). <i>T. rangeli</i> and <i>T. dionisii</i> were detected in skin fragments from <i>Didelphis albiventris</i> and <i>Oecomys cleberi,</i> respectively. <i>G. agilis</i> were found to be infected by <i>L. braziliensis</i> and <i>L. guyanensis,</i> while <i>Leishmania</i> sp. DNA was detected in the liver of <i>Oligoryzomys nigripes</i> and <i>Calomys expulsus</i>. Subpatent infection by <i>T. cruzi</i> and <i>Leishmania</i> sp. was serologically detected in 15% and 9% of the small mammal fauna, respectively. Small mammals from Cumari are included in <i>T. cruzi</i> and <i>Leshmania</i> spp. transmission cycles, showing a higher diversity of trypanosomatid species and/or genotypes than that observed in canids of the same agroecosystem.

Abstract licence: CC BY

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