Three iso la tes o/L eishm ania were recoveredfrom fiv e o f2 7 specim ens o fth e rodent Proechim ys iheringi denigratus M oojen ca p tu red n ear Três B ra ço s in the A tla n tic F orest region o f B ahia, B ra zil. Two o fth e se isolates were recovered fro m ham sters inoculated with a p o o le d tritu rate o f liver, spleen a n d skin tissu e fro m ap p a ren tly healthy P. i. denigratus. The th ird iso la te w as recovered fro m a tritu rate o f o n ly skin tissue fro m another. M e ta sta sis w as observed in the in ocu lated ham sters, the p a ra site s grew abu n dan tly in a rtificia l m edia a n d a typ ica l su p ra p yla ria l p a ttern o f infection in Lutzom yia longipalpis was p ro d u c e d in dicatin g th a t the p a ra site s belong to the Leishmania mexicana complex. A li isolates reacted with Leishmania mexicana mexicana a n d In an attempt to find the primary reservoirs of these parasites, more than 6 0 0 wild animais, principally rodents, marsupiais, rabbits and edentates, have been exam ined (unpublished data). This paper describes three isolates which were recovered from rodents.1 .T h is study w as funded by th e C o n selh o N acio n al de D esen v o lvim en to C ien tífico e T ecnológico (C N P q ) 4 0 3 6 9 0 /8 2 , U S P u b lic H e a lth S ervice A I-1 6 2 8 2 , U .S . T ro p ical e N u triç ã o , U n iv ersid ad e de B rasília, D F . 7 0 9 1 0 Brazil. 3. U n id ad e d e E stu d o s E sp eciais, In stitu to E v a n d ro C h a gas, F u n d a ç ã o S E S P , B elém , P a rá 6 6 0 0 0 B razil.R ecebido p a ra p u b licação em 1 7 /1 2 /1 9 8 4 .
M A T E R IA L S A N D M E T H O D SThe rodents were live trapped in the tall forest habitat o f the cacao growing region o f Três Braços, in the municipalities o f U baira and W enceslau Guima rães, Bahia, Brazil. This area is located 150 km southwest of Salvador, latitude 13° 3 2 ' south and longitude 39° 4 5 ' west. The animais were anesthetized with chloroform and necropsied. Ali mammals necropsied were preserved either as skin and skull specimens or in formalin for future positive identification. Portions o f skin tissue from the nose and base o f tail, as well as liver and spleen, were removed for imprint smears and later triturated with saline solution and inoculated into the foot pads o f hamsters. In some cases the skin and viscera were both inoculated into one hamster, in other cases the skin was inoculated into one hamster and the viscera into another. W hen the appearance o f a cutaneous lesion indicated an inoculated hamster was harboring an infection, samples were taken for imprint smears, inoculations in new hamsters and isolation attempts in D ifco blood agar culture m edia13.Specim ens o f L u tzo m y ia lo n g ip a lp is, from the colony maintained in our laboratory, were fed on the lesions and dissected following oviposition (4 or 5 days after feeding) to observe the development pattern o f the parasites in the digestive tu b e11.A battery o f seven monoclonal antibodies, species and subspecies specific for the L. m exicana...