Toxoplasma gondii in free-ranging wild small felids from Brazil: Molecular detection and genotypic characterization

Abstract

Brazil harbors the largest number of wild Neotropical felid species, with ten of the twelve species recorded in the American continent. Although these animals are considered to be definitive hosts for Toxoplasma gondii, there are few descriptions of the parasite in these species. Here, we performed a molecular detection of T. gondii by amplification of the marker ITS-1 from tissue samples obtained from 90 free-ranging wild small Neotropical felids from Rio Grande do Sul - Brazil. Of the sampled animals, 34.4% (n=31) were positive including the species Puma yagouaroundi - jaguarondi (9/22), Leopardus geoffroyi - Geoffroy's cat (6/22), Leopardus tigrinus - oncilla (8/28), Leopardus wiedii - margay (6/10), Leopardus pardalis - ocelot (1/1) and Leopardus colocolo - Pampas cat (1/7). Toxoplasma DNA was detected with a frequency of 14.6% (63/433) in primary samples of tongue (16/56), brain (8/43), skeletal muscle (15/83), heart (7/63), diaphragm (3/56), vitreous humor (2/44), eye muscle (6/44) and eyeball (6/44). Multilocus PCR-RFLP genotyping of eleven small Neotropical felids using the molecular markers SAG1, 5'3'SAG2, alt. SAG2, SAG3, BTUB, GRA6, c22-8, c29-2, L358, PK1, Apico and CS3 allowed the partial characterization of eight genotypes. We fully characterized two new genotypes that have not been described previously in Brazil (Lw#31Tn from L. wiedii and Py#21Sm from P. yagouaroundi) and one genotype Py#56Br from P. yagouaroundi that has been described previously in isolates from cats, dogs and capybaras from São Paulo state. This study constitutes the first detection and genotypic characterization of T. gondii in free-ranging felids in Brazil, demonstrating the occurrence of the parasite in wild populations and suggesting its potential transmissibility to humans and other domestic and wild animals.

Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in wild rodents and marsupials from the Atlantic Forest, state of São Paulo, Brazil

“…Similar results were observed for the rodents, with all the 25 rodents from the Reserve been seronegative to T. gondii. In the Reserve exist various species of wild cats, Leopardus pardalis, Puma concolor, Panthera onca, Felis pardalis, Puma yagouaroundi (PARDINI & DEVELEY, 2004;MARTINS et al, 2008), that might play role in the zoonotic cycle of T. gondii being the define host, as suggested by Cañón-Franco et al (2013). However the absence of positive animals indicate that this environment is on equilibrium and emphasizes the importance of the anthropogenic pressure on the Atlantic rainforest, since all positive animals were captured on areas under high anthropogenic effect, where interactions between small mammals and domestic cats are easily observed.…”

Genetic characterization of Toxoplasma gondii from Brazilian wildlife revealed abundant new genotypes

“…Complete genetic characterization of primary samples is more difficult relative to the isolates from mice because, in chronic or subclinical cases, the amount of T. gondii DNA in the tissues may be lower than 250 µg/100 g of tissue (Dubey et al., 2004), but in case of wild animal samples, which are difficult to have access to, especially endangered species, the attempt is valid. Genetic characterization of T. gondii in primary samples from wild felids in Brazil has been reported, although the sensitivity of detection was lower relative to isolates in mice (Cañón-Franco et al., 2013), as was observed in the present study.…”

Epidemiological aspects of Toxoplasma gondii infection in riverside communities in the Southern Brazilian Amazon

“…The majority of these animals had contact with each other and also with humans, especially during the rainy season. Wild felids are also present nearby these communities, and they may also be involved in the wild life cycle of T. gondii (13) (14) .…”