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SuMMaRYThe authors present a review of records of intestinal parasitic helminths from animals in human archaeological remains, reported since the emergence of paleopathological studies. The objective was to relate paleoparasitological findings to geographic, biotic, and abiotic factors from the environment in which the prehistoric populations lived, and understand some aspects related to the process of human dispersion and biological and cultural evolution. Modification of eating habits and the incorporation of new cultural practices are analyzed from the perspective of zoonoses from prehistory to the present day, especially in Brazilian indigenous populations. Three tables identifying the helminths, their natural hosts, dates, and sites of archaeological findings complete this review. In conclusion, various zoonoses known today have occurred since antiquity, and these data, combined with studies on the emergence and reemergence of diseases, could make possible to compose scenarios for the future.

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ResumoEstudos sobre biodiversidade permitem avaliações ecossistêmicas e monitoramentos de impactos e mudanças ambientais. A diversidade parasitária pode refletir o processo coevolutivo entre parasitos e hospedeiros, e mudanças ambientais que permitem a perda, ganho ou a manutenção das espécies nesse processo. O presente trabalho utilizou espécies/morfotipos de ovos de helmintos encontrados em fezes de sete mamíferos silvestres (os grupos Dasypodidae e grandes felinos, e as espécies: Tamandua tetradactyla, Cebus apella, Alouatta caraya, Cerdocyon thous, Pecari tajacu) e dois domésticos (Canis familiaris e Sus scrofa), que cohabitam o Parque Nacional Serra da Capivara (PNSC) e seu entorno, para analisar a diversidade dos helmintos intestinais desses mamíferos. Neste trabalho, utilizou-se achados da fauna helmintológica de mamíferos silvestres e domésticos, para avaliar um possível fluxo de helmintos entre estes dois grupos hospedeiros usando Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean (UPGMA) dos hospedeiros com base na composição de suas faunas helmintológicas. Os resultados indicam que a região do PNSC, ainda mantém condições ambientais que ainda propiciam a manutenção da composição da fauna de helmintos de mamíferos silvestres, diferente da encontrada nos animais domésticos.Palavras-chave: Helmintos, diversidade, Caatinga, Parque Nacional Serra da Capivara, mamíferos. AbstractBiodiversity studies allow ecosystem assessment and monitoring of environmental changes and impacts. Parasite diversity could reflect the host/ parasite coevolutionary process and the environment changes that permit the loss, gain or maintenance of species. This survey used species/morphotypes of helminths eggs found in feces from seven wild mammal species (the groups Dasypodidae and Large Cats, and Tamandua tetradactyla, Cebus apella, Alouatta caraya, Cerdocyon thous, Pecari tajacu) and from two domestic species (Canis familiaris and Sus scrofa), which occur within the Serra da Capivara National Park (PNSC) and surrounding areas in order to analise the diversity of mammal intestinal helminths. This work used the helminthological fauna findings of wild and domestic mammals, to consider a possible helminth flux between these two host groups using Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean (UPGMA) of the hosts based on helminthological fauna composition. The results indicate that the region of the PNSC still maintains environmental conditions that still keep wild mammal helminthological fauna composition different from the one found for domestic mammals.

Trichuris eggs were found in Kerodon rupestris (Rodentia, Caviidae) coprolites collected in archaeological layers dated from 30,000 yr BP (before present) to 8,450 yr BP. Adult worms and eggs of this genus were not found in a search of living mammals of the region. Results indicate that K. rupestris was a host for an unknown Trichuris species not found in this rodent presently. Climate changes that occurred by 10,000 yr ago in the region could be the cause of its disappearance. The finding of parasites in archaeological material can show the antiquity of host-parasite relationships and parasite losses through time.

Zika virus (ZIKV) was first isolated in 1947 in primates in Uganda, West Africa. The virus remained confined to the equatorial regions of Africa and Asia, cycling between infecting monkeys, arboreal mosquitoes, and occasionally humans. The ZIKV Asiatic strain was probably introduced into Brazil in or around late 2013. Presently, ZIKV is in contact with the rich biodiversity in all Brazilian biomes, bordering on other Latin American countries. Infections in Brazilian primates have been reported recently, but the overall impact of this virus on wildlife in the Americas is still unknown. The current epidemic in the Americas requires knowledge on the role of mammals, especially nonhuman primates (NHPs), in ZIKV transmission to humans. The article discusses the available data on ZIKV in host animals and issues of biodiversity, rapid environmental change, and impact on human health in megadiverse Latin American countries. The authors reviewed scientific articles and recent news stories on ZIKV in animals, showing that 47 animal species from three orders (mammals, reptiles, and birds) have been investigated for the potential to establish a sylvatic cycle. The review aims to contribute to epidemiological studies and the knowledge on the natural history of ZIKV. The article concludes with questions that require urgent attention in epidemiological studies involving wildlife in order to understand their role as ZIKV hosts and to effectively control the epidemic.

Zika virus (ZIKV) was first isolated in 1947 in primates in Uganda, West Africa. The virus remained confined to the equatorial regions of Africa and Asia, cycling between infecting monkeys, arboreal mosquitoes, and occasionally humans. The ZIKV Asiatic strain was probably introduced into Brazil in or around late 2013. Presently, ZIKV is in contact with the rich biodiversity in all Brazilian biomes, bordering on other Latin American countries. Infections in Brazilian primates have been reported recently, but the overall impact of this virus on wildlife in the Americas is still unknown. The current epidemic in the Americas requires knowledge on the role of mammals, especially nonhuman primates (NHPs), in ZIKV transmission to humans. The article discusses the available data on ZIKV in host animals and issues of biodiversity, rapid environmental change, and impact on human health in megadiverse Latin American countries. The authors reviewed scientific articles and recent news stories on ZIKV in animals, showing that 47 animal species from three orders (mammals, reptiles, and birds) have been investigated for the potential to establish a sylvatic cycle. The review aims to contribute to epidemiological studies and the knowledge on the natural history of ZIKV. The article concludes with questions that require urgent attention in epidemiological studies involving wildlife in order to understand their role as ZIKV hosts and to effectively control the epidemic. IntroductionZika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging flavivirus from the same family as the West Nile (WNV), Japanese encephalitis (JEV), dengue (DENV), and yellow fever viruses (YFV) [1, 2]. ZIKV is an RNA virus, mostly transmitted to humans by bites from infected Aedes spp., especially Aedes aegypti, a highly competent and anthropophilic vector species [3] that also transmits DENV and Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) [4]. Other Aedes species have been implicated in ZIKV transmission, mainly in sylvatic cycles, including Ae. africanus, Ae. albopictus, Ae. apicoargenteus, and Ae. furcifer [5,6,7,8].PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |