High occurrence of Calodium hepaticum (syn. Capillaria hepatica) spurious infection in a village in the Atlantic Forest of southern Brazil

Abstract

Calodium hepaticum (syn. Capillaria hepatica) is a nematode of the Capillariidae family that infects rodents and other mammals. In Brazil, human spurious infections of C. hepaticum have been detected in indigenous or rural communities from the Amazon Basin, but not in the southern states of the country. Here, we report the highest occurrence (13.5% of 37 residents) of C. hepaticum human spurious infection detected in Brazil and the first record in a southern region, Guaraqueçaba. The finding is explained by the area being located in the Atlantic Forest of the state of Paraná, surrounded by preserved forests and because the inhabitants consume the meat of wild mammals.

Spurious infection by Calodium hepaticum (Bancroft, 1983) Moravec, 1982 and intestinal parasites in forest reserve dwellers in Western Brazilian Amazon

“…In addition, capybaras can serves as hosts of Capillaria hydrochoeri, adult worms are gastrointestinal parasites and eggs released along with host feces show distinct morphometric traits in comparison with C. hepaticum 33 . In spite of the fact that C. hepaticum eggs show morphometric differences according to different microenvironments (liver from different hosts or feces) 4,5,14,34 , we confirmed this species identification on the basis of morphological and morphometric determination of 100 eggs 5 . In Acre, it seems more likely that people get infected by eating paca meat 15 .…”

“…This eating behavior can pose a threat to these human populations. Previous studies have reported that individuals can develop C. hepaticum spurious infections by consuming raw or undercooked livers from wild hosts, both in Amazonian and Southern Brazilian communities [4][5][6]13,14 . In the present study, all the families reported eating whitelipped peccary, capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) and lowland paca.…”

“…To date, 138 cases of spurious infections have been reported in the literature 7 . Out of them, 93 occurred in Brazil [4][5][6][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] (Table 1), suggesting that C. hepaticum is a foodborne parasite in this country.…”

“…These prey includes red brocket deer (Mazama americana), whitelipped peccary (Tayassu pecari) and lowland or spotted paca (Cuniculus paca) 15 . It is well-recognized that these animals are natural hosts of C. hepaticum in Brazilian biomes 6,14 . Previously, we reported the finding of C. hepaticum eggs in liver tissues from a free-ranging paca trapped in the Bujari permanent preservation area in Acre 16 (098490 5000 S, 678570 0800 W).…”

OCCURRENCE OF Calodium hepaticum (BANCROFT, 1893) MORAVEC, 1982 EGGS IN FECES OF DOGS AND CATS IN LAGES, SANTA CATARINA, BRAZIL

“…Spurious infections occur due to ingestion of non-embryonated eggs, found on the ground or by eating the liver of mammals infected with C. hepaticum . About 135 cases of spurious infections were reported in literature; 94 of them occurred in Brazil, in the states of Amazonas , Minas Gerais , and Paraná 18 , 19 . Diagnoses took place mainly in indian tribes, due to the consumption of hunted animals, such as tapir ( Tapirus terrestris ), white-lipped peccary ( Tayasu pecari ), and red-faced spider monkey ( Ateles pasnicus ) 20 , 21 .…”