Study of Hepatozoon spp. cycle in rural areas in the municipality of Botucatu - São Paulo: evaluation of free ranging rodents as source of infection to canine domestic

• Grant number: 12/09715-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: September 01, 2012
• End date: February 29, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Lucia Helena O'Dwyer de Oliveira
• Grantee: Larissa de Castro Demoner
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Hepatozoon species constitute a diverse group of parasites That include more than 300 Hepatozoon spp. Currently there are two species of Hepatozoon that infect dogs, Hepatozoon canis and Hepatozoon americanum. In Brazil, studies revealed that H. canis is the species involved in canine hepatozoonosis, whose vectors are ixodids ticks. In this country, reports of infection in dogs are common especially in rural areas, where animals are infested by different species of ticks. Recent studies have demonstrated that the vector of H. canis in rural areas of Brazil remains unclear and it is possible that there is a alternate pathway of infection, such as predation of paratenic hosts. Thus, this paper aims to investigate the presence of Hepatozoon spp. in free ranging rodents captured in native forests on the outskirts of rural property in the municipality of Botucatu, where the prevalence of the parasite will also be studied in domestic dogs. Samples of blood and tissues of rodents will be collected for study of the parasite by parasitological diagnosis (blood smears and histopathology) and by molecular diagnosis (PCR). In dogs the diagnosis of Hepatozoon spp. will be performed by PCR and by blood smears.Thus, it is intended to elucidate the mode of transmission of H. canis in rural areas of Brazil as the main vector of the disease is uncertain.

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)

DEMONER, LARISSA DE CASTRO; MAGRO, NATALIA MIZUHIRA; LUCAS DA SILVA, MARIA REGINA; AZEVEDO DE PAULA ANTUNES, JOAO MARCELO; PEREZ CALABUIG, CECILIA IRENE; O'DWYER, LUCIA HELENA. Hepatozoon spp. infections in wild rodents in an area of endemic canine hepatozoonosis in southeastern Brazil. TICKS AND TICK-BORNE DISEASES, v. 7, n. 5, p. 859-864, 2016. (12/09715-0, 12/25197-9)

DEMONER, LARISSA DE CASTRO; LUCAS DA SILVA, MARIA REGINA; MAGRO, NATALIA MIZUHIRA; O'DWYER, LUCIA HELENA. . Parasitology, v. 146, n. 5, p. 662-669, APR 2019. (12/09715-0, 12/25197-9)

DEMONER, LARISSA DE CASTRO; LUCAS DA SILVA, MARIA REGINA; MAGRO, NATALIA MIZUHIRA; O'DWYER, LUCIA HELENA. Hepatozoon milleri sp. nov. (Adeleorina: Hepatozoidae) in Akodon montensis (Rodentia: Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae) from southeastern Brazil. Parasitology, v. 146, n. 5, p. 8-pg., 2019-04-01. (12/09715-0, 12/25197-9)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

DEMONER, Larissa de Castro. Evaluation of wild rodents as a source of infection of Hepatozoon canis to dogs. 2016. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Instituto de Biociências. Botucatu Botucatu.