Histopathological findings of infections caused by canine distemper virus, Trypanosoma cruzi, and other parasites in two free-ranging White-nosed Coatis Nasua narica (Carnivora: Procyonidae) from Costa Rica

Abstract

Canine distemper virus (CDV) causes systemic infections and immunosuppression in carnivores, which subsequently makes animals highly susceptible to opportunistic infections. Although Trypanosoma cruzi infects procyonids, chagasic myocarditis in Coatis has not been reported in Central America. The aim of this study was to report the histopathological findings caused by canine distemper virus, T. cruzi, and other parasites in two free-ranging White-nosed Coatis Nasua narica found dead in a national park on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Heart, lung, tongue, liver, brain and spleen samples were subjected to macroscopic and microscopic examination. A mononuclear meningoencephalitis associated with intra-nuclear eosinophilic inclusion bodies consistent with canine distemper virus was observed in nervous tissue. Myocarditis and associated nests of amastigotes of T. cruzi were observed during microscopic examination in cardiac tissue, and in muscle from the tongue of both animals. Molecular analysis confirmed T. cruzi in formalin-fixed paraffin embedded cardiac tissues. The myocardial damage caused by the opportunistic infection due to T. cruzi in these individuals could be the result of a severe compromised immunological status associated to the CDV infection, and subsequent opportunistic polyparasitism described herein. To the authors knowledge this is the first report of chagasic myocarditis in free-ranging coatis from Central America.

Demographic and Pathogens of Domestic, Free-Roaming Pets and the Implications for Wild Carnivores and Human Health in the San Luis Region of Costa Rica

“…Although we have found no report detailing the country-wide prevalence of canine distemper in Costa Rica, case reports in dogs exist and conversations with local veterinarians confirm that, as with other Central American countries, it is considered a disease of major importance for domestic dogs [45]. In regard to wildlife health, recently, infection has been recognized in wild felids and clinical disease was reported in coatis [46,47]. Given the lack of preventive medicine in this region, we expected the prevalence of antibodies against canine distemper to be higher.…”

Passive epidemiological surveillance in wildlife in Costa Rica identifies pathogens of zoonotic and conservation importance

“…Most of the pathogens detected in our study have already been previously identified in wild animals in Costa Rica, and the detection of an infectious agent in a wild specimen does not necessarily imply disease or affect wild populations [30,33,41,128]. However, monitoring the general health status of wild animals over time allows us to know the circulation and behavior of these pathogens, as well as to provide an early warning of epidemic events.…”

“…Several pathogens such as zoonotic parasites, vector-borne diseases, and direct transmission viruses have been identified in Costa Rican wildlife [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]. Nonetheless, without being contemplated in a routine systematic wildlife surveillance program, this information cannot reveal the local distribution of these infectious agents or the general health status of wildlife.…”

Diagnóstico post mortem de tripanosomiasis canina usando la Reacción en Cadena de la Polimerasa

“…Estos iniciadores amplifican un fragmento de 330 pb derivado de la región variable de los minicírculos de T. cruzi (Avila et al, 1993;Ferrer, 2015). La PCR se realizó como ha sido descrita (Rojas-Jiménez et al, 2021).…”

“…Aun cuando podría amplificar fragmentos de Trypanosoma rangeli (Vallejo et al, 1999), este tripanosomátido no es patógeno para mamíferos y no invade tejido cardiaco (Vallejo et al, 2015). Así mismo, la infección crónica natural con T. cruzi en pizotes (Nasua narica) de nuestro país ha sido confirmada empleando esta misma PCR en conjunto con la histopatología (Rojas-Jiménez et al, 2021). En el presente estudio, la PCR fue una herramienta importante en el diagnóstico post mortem de casos sospechosos de tripanosomiasis canina.…”