Molecular Epidemiology of Trypanosomatids and Trypanosoma cruzi in Primates from Peru

We determined the prevalence rate and risk of infection of Trypanosoma cruzi and other trypanosomatids in Peruvian non-human primates (NHPs) in the wild (n = 126) and in different captive conditions (n = 183). Blood samples were collected on filter paper, FTA cards, or EDTA tubes and tested using a nested PCR protocol targeting the 24Sα rRNA gene. Main risk factors associated with trypanosomatid and T. cruzi infection were genus and the human–animal context (wild vs captive animals). Wild NHPs had higher prevalence of both trypanosomatids (64.3 vs 27.9%, P OpenSPiltSPi 0.001) and T. cruzi (8.7 vs 3.3%, P = 0.057), compared to captive NHPs, suggesting that parasite transmission in NHPs occurs more actively in the sylvatic cycle. In terms of primate family, Pitheciidae had the highest trypanosomatid prevalence (20/22, 90.9%) and Cebidae had the highest T. cruzi prevalence (15/117, 12.8%). T. cruzi and trypanosomatids are common in Peruvian NHPs and could pose a health risk to human and animals that has not been properly studied.

Start page

732

End page

742

Volume

14

Issue

4

Language

English

OCDE Knowledge area

Ciencia veterinaria Parasitología

Subjects

DOI

10.1007/s10393-017-1271-8

Scopus EID

2-s2.0-85032973177

PubMed ID

29098492

Source

EcoHealth

ISSN of the container

16129202

Sponsor(s)

The authors thank the Peruvian Forestry Service and its regional offices for their cooperation in the management of research permits and access to confiscated animals. This project was possible thanks to financial support of the LA Zoo, USAID through the Emerging Pandemic Threats PREDICT Program, and NIH/FIC Training Grant D43 TW007393. The field work and sample collection was supported by the Cooperative Agreement # GHN-A-00-09-00010-00 ‘‘USAID Avian and Pandemic Influenza and Zoonotic Disease Program—PREDICT,’’ between USAID, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. We are also grateful to zoos and rescue centers for allowing us to work with animals from their collections, and to the villagers of Nueva Esperanza and Sol Naciente who kindly received us in the field. We thank the many volunteers, field assistants, veterinarians, and laboratory technicians who made this work possible. T. cruzi strains were provided by the Infectious Diseases Laboratory of Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH), and T. rangeli was provided by Franklin Vargas from the Microbiology and Tropical Parasitology Research Institute of Trujillo National University (UNT).

Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus

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