Leishmania infantum (synonymous: Leishmania chagasi) infection in free-ranging wild mammals in the region of environmental protection area, in the municipality of Campinas, São Paulo

• Grant number: 14/27212-0
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Duration: May 01, 2015 - April 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Collective Health - Epidemiology
• Principal Investigator: Maria Rita Donalisio Cordeiro
• Grantee: Maria Rita Donalisio Cordeiro
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Médicas (FCM). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: José Eduardo Tolezano ; Virgínia Bodelão Richini Pereira

Abstract

Leishmaniasis is a zoonotic disease transmitted by dipterans of the subfamily Phlebotominae, whose etiologic agent is the protozoan of the genus Leishmania spp. American visceral leishmaniasis (AVL) has shown an unequivocal process of urbanization, although it is primarily wild and humans are accidental hosts. In connection with this severe form of leishmaniasis, for which the species Leishmania infantum (synonym: L. chagasi) is responsible, the city of Campinas in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, has been in an epidemiological situation of "municipality with canine transmission" since 2009. That was the year when the first autochthonous case of canine AVL was recorded in a gated community located in an environmentally protected area (EPA). New canine cases have been reported in this gated community and in a neighboring one, where there is direct contact between households and forest areas belonging to the EPA. This record justifies the investigation of the infection by species of Leishmania spp. in the wild mammal fauna that live in the forested areas of the EPA. This project aims to investigate the presence of infections by L. infantum in wild free-living mammals in the EPA of Campinas, by making monthly captures and collecting blood samples from these animals for one year, with subsequent detection of anti-Leishmania infantum. antibodies by the direct agglutination test (DAT) and the Kalazar-Detect" Rapid Test. The project also includes genus- and species-specific DNA analysis of L. infantum by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, with quantification of the parasite load by real time PCR and genotyping assay followed by melting or High Resolution Melt (HRM) analysis. The findings of this project are expected to contribute to the elucidation of the mechanisms of transmission and introduction of the disease in the region. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

PAIZ, LAIS MORAES; DONALISIO, MARIA RITA; RICHINI-PEREIRA, VIRGINIA BODELAO; MOTOIE, GABRIELA; CASTAGNA, CLAUDIO LUIZ; TOLEZANO, JOSE EDUARDO. Infection by Leishmania spp. in Free-Ranging Opossums (Didelphis albiventris) in an Environmentally Protected Area Inhabited by Humans in Southeastern Brazil. VECTOR-BORNE AND ZOONOTIC DISEASES, v. 16, n. 11, p. 728-730, NOV 2016. (14/13049-0, 12/51267-4, 14/27212-0, 16/02572-0)

DONALISIO, MARIA RITA; PAIZ, LAIS MORAES; DA SILVA, VANESSA GUSMON; RICHINI-PEREIRA, VIRGINIA BODELAO; BRUNO VON ZUBEN, ANDREA PAULA; CASTAGNA, CLAUDIO LUIZ; MOTOIE, GABRIELA; HIRAMOTO, ROBERTO MITSUYOSHI; TOLEZANO, JOSE EDUARDO. Visceral leishmaniasis in an environmentally protected area in southeastern Brazil: Epidemiological and laboratory cross-sectional investigation of phlebotomine fauna, wild hosts and canine cases. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, v. 11, n. 7, JUL 2017. (16/02572-0, 12/51267-4, 14/13049-0, 14/27212-0)

PAIZ, LAIS MORAES; MOTOIE, GABRIELA; RICHINI-PEREIRA, VIRGINIA BODELAO; LANGONI, HELIO; MENOZZI, BENEDITO DONIZETE; TOLEZANO, JOSE EDUARDO; DONALISIO, MARIA RITA. Antibodies and Molecular Detection of Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum in Samples of Free-Ranging Marmosets (Primates: Callitrichidae: Callithrix spp.) in an Area of Canine Visceral Leishmaniasis in Southeastern Brazil. VECTOR-BORNE AND ZOONOTIC DISEASES, v. 19, n. 4, OCT 2018. (14/13049-0, 14/27212-0, 16/02572-0)