Zoonotic parasites infecting free‐living armadillos from Brazil

Abstract

Armadillos are specialist diggers and their burrows are used to find food, seek shelter and protect their pups. These burrows can also be shared with dozens of vertebrate and invertebrate species and; consequently, their parasites including the zoonotics. The aim of this study was to diagnose the presence of zoonotic parasites in four wild-caught armadillo species from two different Brazilian ecosystems, the Cerrado (Brazilian savanna) and the Pantanal (wetland). The investigated parasites and their correspondent diseases were: Toxoplasma gondii (toxoplasmosis), Trypanosoma cruzi (Chagas disease), Leishmania spp., (leishmaniasis), Paracoccidioides brasiliensis (Paracoccidioidomicosis) and Mycobacterium leprae (Hansen's disease). Forty-three free-living armadillos from Pantanal and seven road-killed armadillos from the Cerrado were sampled. Trypanosoma cruzi DTU TcIII were isolated from 2 out of 43 (4.65%) armadillos, including one of them also infected with Trypanosoma rangeli. Antibodies anti-T. gondii were detected in 13 out of 43 (30.2%) armadillos. All seven armadillos from Cerrado tested positive for P. brasiliensis DNA, in the lungs, spleen, How to cite this article: Kluyber D, Desbiez ALJ, Attias N, et al. Zoonotic parasites infecting free-living armadillos from Brazil.

Trypanosoma rangeli Genetic, Mammalian Hosts, and Geographical Diversity from Five Brazilian Biomes

“…The use of spliced leader rRNA, ITS rDNA, SSU rDNA, and other nuclear sequences showed that T. rangeli is composed of two main lineages: one containing lineages A, C, D, and E and the other formed by the phylogenetically basal B lineage [6,[27][28][29][30][31][32]. In Brazil, T. rangeli is mainly described in mammals and triatomines from the Amazon region; moreover, there are also sporadic reports of its occurrence in the Pantanal, Atlantic Forest, Cerrado, and Caatinga biomes, where it infects different mammal species of the orders Chiroptera, Carnivora, Didelphimorphia, Rodentia, Pilosa, Primates, and Cingulata [5,7,28,[33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]. Lineages A and B were described as having the greatest diversity of mammalian hosts and vectors.…”

One Health and Hansen’s disease in Brazil

“…Armadillos are known to host a range of bacterial, fungal, protozoal, and other parasitic agents, including members of the genera Histoplasma, Coccidioides, Trypanosoma, Toxoplasma, Sarcocystis, Leptospira, Sporothrix, Leishmania, and Paracoccidioides [11,28,29]. Zoonotic transmission of these pathogens is unproven, but measures to reduce human contact with armadillos to prevent zoonotic transmission of M. leprae might reduce the incidence of other diseases.…”

“…Potentially zoonotic viral infections in armadillos have not been described, but this almost certainly reflects a lack of investigation. Interestingly, armadillos serve as a food source for the triatomine bugs (Rhodnius prolixus) that are vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease, and as a reservoir of T. cruzi [29]. It has recently been demonstrated by experimental oral infection that M. leprae remain viable in the gut of R. prolixus for up to 20 days, move along the digestive tract, and that M. leprae from triatomine bug feces can be inoculated successfully into mouse foot pads [30].…”

“…This research needs to be transdisciplinary, under the umbrella of One Health, encompassing social and anthropological research to understand community practices in relation to contact with wild armadillos [14], ecological studies in partnership with conservation groups to map and characterize transmission of M. leprae and its persistence within armadillos [11,12,29], and genomic studies to determine the relatedness of M. leprae strains infecting humans and animals [8,17]. A better understanding of pathways to infection, including that these might not be from person to person, is also important in destigmatising disease.…”

Zoonotic risk of Hansen's disease from community contact with wild armadillos: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…Even in endemic countries, people newly diagnosed with HD often report no known contact with a household case, a principal risk factor for HD (Deps et al., 2006). Wildlife can carry multiple infectious agents (Kluyber et al., 2020), therefore, measures to reduce capture and consumption based on quantifying the risk for one pathogen may have wider public health benefits in preventing other zoonoses.…”