In January and February 2019, a malacological survey was conducted in the area surrounding the residence of a 12-year-old child that had contracted cerebral angiostrongyliasis in the municipality of Macapá, capital of the Amapá State, northern Brazil. The serological examination was positive for Angiostrongylus cantonensis infection, the principal etiological agent of this parasitosis. A sample of 54 molluscs was artificially and individually digested for parasitological analysis, containing 38 specimens of Achatina fulica, nine specimens of Bulimulus tenuissimus and seven specimens of Sarasinula linguaeformis. A. fulica was the most abundant mollusc, and the only species infected with A. cantonensis, as well as presenting co-infections with other nematodes. This is the first report of cerebral angiostrongyliasis in the Amazon Region, and the first record of A. fulica infected with A. cantonensis in Amapá. These findings highlight the potential risks of human angiostrongyliasis, and the need to implement public health measures to control the spread of the disease.

Aedes aegypti is associated with epidemic diseases in Brazil, such as urban yellow fever, dengue, and more recently, chikungunya and Zika viruses infections. More information about Ae. aegypti infestation is fundamental to virological surveillance in order to ensure the effectiveness of control measures in use. Thus, the present study aims to identify and compare infestation and infectivity of Ae. aegypti females in Macapa city, Amapa State (Amazon region), Brazil, between the epidemiological weeks 2017/02 and 2018/20. A total number of 303 Ae. aegypti females were collected at 21 fixed collection points, 171 at the 10 collection points in the Marabaixo neighborhood and 132 at the 11 collection points in the Central neighborhood. Among the collected samples, only two were positive for dengue virus, with a 2.08% (2/96 pools) infectivity rate for Marabaixo. The difference between the medians of Ae. aegypti females captured in Central and Marabaixo sites was not statistically significant. The findings indicate similar mosquito infestation levels between the neighborhoods, and a low-level of mosquito infectivity, although dengue virus was found only in Marabaixo. Virological surveillance of Ae. aegypti was important to identify sites of infection and determine possible routes of transmission to enable health surveillance teams to adopt preventive strategies where infected mosquitoes are present and act faster.

Este trabalho tem por objetivo contextualizar a malária no ambiente Amazônico, em especial nos Estados do Pará e Amapá, com informações atualizadas do agente transmissor e situação das medidas de controle tomadas pelo Programa Nacional de Controle da Malária (PNCM), Sistema de Informação de Vigilância Epidemiológica -notificação de casos da malária (SIVEP_ malária), e quais as possíveis influências que os sistemas de vigilância possuem sobre a incidência da doença nas localidades com alto risco de transmissão da malária. Os impactos na saúde humana ocasionados pela manutenção da incidência da malária em área de alto risco de transmissão podem ocorrer através de mecanismos combinados, diretos ou indiretos. No caso do Brasil, existem várias doenças infecciosas e parasitárias endêmicas que são sensíveis às estações climáticas e a determinados períodos do ano (estação seca e chuvosa), principalmente aquelas de transmissão vetorial. Pluviosidade, temperatura e umidade são fatores relevantes como reguladores das áreas endêmicas para proliferação do vetor da malária e manutenção da transmissão nas áreas de alto risco desta enfermidade, assim como as condições de atendimento dos sistemas de saúde locais. No contexto das atividades desenvolvidas pelo PNCM a detecção ativa de casos pode ser uma ferramenta importante no controle da enfermidade principalmente se somado às informações epidemiológicas e climáticas para delimitação de estratégias de ação de combate à doença.

The present study aimed to diagnose the natural infection of captive and free-living procyonids with Trypanosoma evansi in the states of Amapá and Pará, Brazil. From February 2012 to August 2013, whole blood samples and blood smears were obtained from 45 free-living procyonids and from nine procyonids kept in captivity in wild life refuges and zoobotanical parks in the states of Amapá and Pará. Whole blood samples were collected and kept at -20ºC for the detection of T. evansi DNA by PCR using the RoTat 1.2 forward and RoTat 1.2 reverse primers. In addition, the blood smears were processed and examined for the presence of trypomastigote forms of T. evansi. T. evansi DNA was detected in 18.52% (10/54) of the procyonids, namely, in captive crab-eating raccoons and captive and free-living coatis in Pará State. No trypomastigote forms were observed in the blood smears. DNA from T. evansi was detected in P. cancrivorus and N. nasua in Pará State, being this the first such report in P. cancrivorus.