Research of ticks, tick-borne diseases and trypanosomatids in wild animals from Mato Grosso and Pará states

Author(s)

Herbert Sousa Soares

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ/SBD)
• Defense date: 2013-11-25

Examining board members

Solange Maria Gennari; Darci Moraes Barros Battesti; Marcelo Bahia Labruna; Maria Halina Ogrzewalska; Richard de Campos Pacheco

• Advisor: Solange Maria Gennari

Abstract

The Brazilian Amazon biome has a wide territorial dimension and great abundance and diversity of species and habitats, however little is known about the epidemiology of diseases affecting wild animals, especially those with ticks as vectors. This study aimed to survey epidemiological agents transmitted by ticks (Rickettsia , Ehrlichia, Anaplasma, Hepatozoon, Babesia, Borrelia and Coxiella) and trypanosomatids (Trypanosoma and Leishmania ) in wild animals in the states of Mato Grosso (MT) and Pará (PA), from February 2009 to June 2012 , including mammals, birds and reptiles. We collected tissue samples and ticks from 181 wild animals, 49 of Mato Grosso and Pará 132, and these were submitted to DNA extraction, PCR and sequencing of the amplified products. All tissue samples were negative for Borrelia, Coxiella, Rickettsia and Trypanosomatidae. We tested 49 samples from Mato Grosso and found 5 (10.2%) were positive for Hepatozoon, 5 (10.2%) for Piroplasmida, 4 (8.2%) to Anaplasma and 1 (2%) to Ehrlichia. We tested 132 samples from Pará and found 2 (1.5%) positive for the genus Hepatozoon, 11 (8.3%) to order Piroplasmida, 13 (9.8%) for Anaplasma and 3 (2.3 %) for Ehrlichia. Among 232 ticks coming from Mato Grosso, 139 (59.9 %) were positive and sequenced, detecting Rickettsia amblyommii, R. rhipicephali and Rickettsia monteiroi-like species in Amblyomma cajennense and A. auricularium, Haemaphysalis juxtakochi and A. naponense respectively. The samples tested from Pará (117) 27 were positive and sequenced detecting R. amblyommii in A. longirostre and A. humerale, R. bellii in A. humerale and A. naponense, R. felis in A. humerale and Rickettsia. c. f. africae in A. naponense. In this study were detected pathogens of the genus Rickettsia and Hepatozoon , family members Anaplasmataceae and order Piroplasmida in animal species and regions not yet studied, revealing the enormous potential for research applied to wildlife amazon fauna, whose literature is still quite scarce in relation to the occurrence of pathogens and the host parasite interaction. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 11/13644-8 - Research of ticks, tick-borne diseases and trypanosomatids in wild animals in the Mato Grosso and Pará states
• Grantee: Herbert Sousa Soares
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)