Revista Brasileira de Parasitologia Veterinária (Nov 2019)

Molecular survey of tick-borne pathogens in small mammals from Brazilian Amazonia

  • Ana Cláudia Colle,
  • Ravena Fernanda Braga de Mendonça,
  • Maerle Oliveira Maia,
  • Leodil da Costa Freitas,
  • Rute Witter,
  • Arlei Marcili,
  • Daniel Moura de Aguiar,
  • Sebastián Muñoz-Leal,
  • Marcelo Bahia Labruna,
  • Rogério Vieira Rossi,
  • Richard de Campos Pacheco

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1590/s1984-29612019086
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 28, no. 4
pp. 592 – 604

Abstract

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Abstract Small non-volant mammals (marsupials and small rodents) were captured at three different timepoints from 23 forest fragments across three municipalities (Alta Floresta, Sinop and Cláudia) covering the Amazonian biome of the Mato Grosso State in Midwestern Brazil. The animal tissues (liver and spleen) and blood were screened using molecular tools for the detection of Babesia, Coxiella, Cytauxzoon, Hepatozoon, Theileria, and Anaplasmataceae agents. A total of 230 specimens (78 rodents and 152 marsupials) were trapped. Hepatozoon and Piroplasmorida agents were detected in the common opossums (Didelphis marsupialis). In turn, all samples (blood, liver, or spleen) collected from the small mammals were negative for the genus Coxiella and the family Anaplasmataceae, as detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Phylogenetic analyses inferred from partial sequences of the 18S rRNA gene highlighted the occurrence of new Hepatozoon and Piroplasmorida haplotypes. Future studies determining the role of common opossum (D. marsupialis) in the epidemiological cycles of Hepatozoon and Babesia under natural conditions in the Amazonian biome are necessary.

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