An atypical Toxoplasma gondii genotype in a rural Brazilian dog co-infected with Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis

Abstract

Toxoplasmosis and leishmaniasis are two worldwide zoonoses caused by the protozoan parasites Toxoplasma gondii and Leishmania spp., respectively. This report describes the clinical and laboratorial fi ndings of a co-infection with both parasites in a 4-year-old female dog suspected of ehrlichiosis that presented anemia, thrombocytopenia, hypoalbuminemia, hyperglobulinemia, tachyzoite-like structures to the lung imprints, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) results positive for T. gondii (kidney, lung, and liver) and Leishmania spp. Co-infection with Toxoplasma gondii and Leishmania braziliensis was confi rmed by sequencing; restriction fragment length polymorphism-polymerase chain reaction (RFLP-PCR) confi rmed an atypical T. gondii genotype circulating in dogs that has been reported to cause human congenital toxoplasmosis.

Clinical Toxoplasmosis in Dogs and Cats: An Update

“…In dogs, CDV is an important cause of neurological disease, but other infectious agents include eastern equine encephalitis virus (96), S. neurona (97), and N. caninum (8, 85). Co-infections of T. gondii with viruses, like CDV, canine adenovirus type 1 and type 2, and canine parvovirus type 2 (7, 72), along with rickettsial bacteria (47) and protozoans, like Leishmania spp., N. caninum , and S. neurona (6, 15, 49, 98–100), can mask the infections, so clinicians need to pay attention to all variables.…”

Classificação das alterações pulmonares na leishmaniose visceral canina

“…Contudo, em alguns casos os cães podem apresentar sinais clínicos referentes a alterações no trato respiratório. Um dado interessante em nosso estudo é que 41,6% dos cães examinados tinham algum sinal clínico de comprometimento respiratório, diferindo da frequência vista em outros estudos que não ultrapassaram 15% dos cães acometidos pela doença (Slappendel, 1988;Denerolle, 1996;Ciaramella et al, 1997;Koutinas et al, 1999;Silva et al, 2015).…”

“…A presença de Leishmania no tecido pulmonar é rara, mas antígenos do parasito são frequentemente encontrados, sugerindo que os parasitos passam pelos pulmões, desencadeiam alterações, mas não permanecem no órgão, apesar da presença da célula hospedeira do parasito, que é o macrófago (Tryphonas et al, 1977;Duarte e Corbett, 1984;Silva et al, 2015).…”

Implications of co-infection ofLeptomonasin visceral leishmaniasis in India

“…Domestic cats and a dog showing co-infection with Leishmania spp. and Toxoplasma gondii were reported (Braga et al 2014;da Silva et al 2015). Although Leptomonas has been thought to be inhabitant in insects, recent reports revealed unusual 7-17% cases of VL and PKDL with clinical isolates of L. donovani showing co-infection with Leptomonas in India (Srivastava et al 2010;Ghosh et al 2012).…”