AUTHOR=Dario Maria Augusta , Lisboa Cristiane Varella , Xavier Samanta Cristina das Chagas , D’Andrea Paulo Sérgio , Roque André Luiz Rodrigues , Jansen Ana Maria 

TITLE=Trypanosoma Species in Small Nonflying Mammals in an Area With a Single Previous Chagas Disease Case

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2022.812708

DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2022.812708

ISSN=2235-2988

ABSTRACT=<p>Trypanosomatids are hemoflagellate parasites that even though they have been increasingly studied, many aspects of their biology and taxonomy remain unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the <italic>Trypanosoma</italic> sp. transmission cycle in nonflying small mammals in an area where a case of acute Chagas disease occurred in Mangaratiba municipality, Rio de Janeiro state. Three expeditions were conducted in the area: the first in 2012, soon after the human case, and two others in 2015. Sylvatic mammals were captured and submitted to blood collection for trypanosomatid parasitological and serological exams. Dogs from the surrounding areas where the sylvatic mammals were captured were also tested for <italic>T. cruzi</italic> infection. DNA samples were extracted from blood clots and positive hemocultures, submitted to polymerase chain reaction targeting SSU rDNA and gGAPDH genes, sequenced and phylogenetic analysed. Twenty-one wild mammals were captured in 2012, mainly rodents, and 17 mammals, mainly marsupials, were captured in the two expeditions conducted in 2015. Only four rodents demonstrated borderline serological <italic>T. cruzi</italic> test (IFAT), two in 2012 and two in 2015. <italic>Trypanosoma janseni</italic> was the main <italic>Trypanosoma</italic> species identified, and isolates were obtained solely from <italic>Didelphis aurita</italic>. In addition to biological differences, molecular differences are suggestive of genetic diversity in this flagellate species. <italic>Trypanosoma</italic> sp. DID was identified in blood clots from <italic>D. aurita</italic> in single and mixed infections with <italic>T. janseni</italic>. Concerning dogs, 12 presented mostly borderline serological titers for <italic>T. cruzi</italic> and no positive hemoculture. In blood clots from 11 dogs, <italic>T. cruzi</italic> DNA was detected and characterized as TcI (n = 9) or TcII (n = 2). Infections by <italic>Trypanosoma rangeli</italic> lineage E (n = 2) and, for the first time, <italic>Trypanosoma caninum</italic>, <italic>Trypanosoma dionisii</italic>, and <italic>Crithidia mellificae</italic> (n = 1 each) were also detected in dogs. We concluded that despite the low mammalian species richness and degraded environment, a high <italic>Trypanosoma</italic> species richness species was being transmitted with the predominance of <italic>T. janseni</italic> and not <italic>T. cruzi</italic>, as would be expected in a locality of an acute case of Chagas disease.</p>