Wild generalists carnivores as sentinels for Filariasis and Visceral Leishmaniase in Iguaçu National Park

• Grant number: 16/14886-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: September 01, 2017
• End date: June 30, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Preventive Veterinary Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Estevam Guilherme Lux Hoppe
• Grantee: Marcela Figuerêdo Duarte Moraes
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Anthropogenic factors such as habitat destruction and fragmentation, hunting and domestic animals presence affect negatively the wildlife. Generalist carnivores, as less demanding species, may benefit from the interaction with humans, as human wast, agriculture and loivestock production may representa n additional food supply. Ring-tailed coatis and crab-eating foxes are common generalist and opportunistic carnivores widely distributed in the Iguaçu National Park territory, acting as regulators of animals in lower trophic chain positions, as well as seed dispersors. Due to this opportunistic behavior, these animals approximate human populations, making them vulnerable to domestic animal pathogensand acting as carriers or reservoirs of pathogens for domestic animals and man. More than 75% of emerging zoonotic pathogens of humans has originated in wild animals and recently we diagnosed the presence of filarids with zoonotic potential in the park area, in addition to the confirmation of autochthonous cases of Canine Visceral Leishmaniasis in domestic dogs in the same area. Thus, because of the importance to the public health as well a complementary tool in the conservation of local wildlife, this research aims to study Filarioses and Leishmania chagasi in generalist carnivores in Parna Iguaçu, trying to comprehend the host-parasite relationship and the ecological processes that may favor the transmission of these agents among wild populations, domestic and humans. (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)

MORAES, M. F. D.; DA SILVA, M. X.; TEBALDI, J. H.; HOPPE, E. G. LUX. Parasitological assessment of wild ring-tailed coatis (Nasua nasua) from the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR PARASITOLOGY-PARASITES AND WILDLIFE, v. 9, p. 154-158, AUG 2019. (14/08180-0, 16/14886-9, 16/15589-8)

PERLES, L.; MORAES, M. F.; DA SILVA, M. XAVIER; VIEIRA, R. F. C.; MACHADO, R. Z.; HOPPE, E. G. LUX; ANDRE, M. R.. Co-infection by multiple vector-borne agents in wild ring-tailed coatis (Nasua nasua) from Iguacu National Park, southern Brazil. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, v. 13, n. 1, p. 11-pg., 2023-02-01. (16/14886-9, 16/15589-8, 19/15150-4, 18/02753-0)

Academic Publications

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

MORAES, Marcela Figuerêdo Duarte. Wild generalist carnivores as sentinels for filariases and visceral leishmaniasis in the Iguaçu National Park. 2020. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias. Jaboticabal Jaboticabal.