The Opossum Didelphis virginiana as a Synanthropic Reservoir of Trypanosoma cruzi in Dzidzilché, Yucatán, México
In México, the role of mammals in the transmission cycle of Trypanosoma cruzi is poorly known. In the State of Yucatán, an endemic area of Chagas disease, both Didelphis virginiana and D. marsupialis occur sympatrically. However, until now, only the former species had been found infected with T. cru...
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Published in | Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz Vol. 97; no. 5; pp. 613 - 620 |
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Main Authors | , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English Portuguese |
Published |
Brazil
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz
01.07.2002
Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ) |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | In México, the role of mammals in the transmission cycle of
Trypanosoma cruzi is poorly known. In the State of Yucatán, an
endemic area of Chagas disease, both Didelphis virginiana and D.
marsupialis occur sympatrically. However, until now, only the former
species had been found infected with T. cruzi . To evaluate the role of
D. virginiana in a peridomestic transmission, nine periods of
capture-recapture were performed around the village of Dzidzilché,
Yucatán. The sex, age, reproductive status, location, and presence
of infection with T. cruzi were recorded for each opossum. The
chromosome morphology was used to identify the opossum species. T.
cruzi was identified by the presence of pseudocysts of amastigotes in
cardiac muscle fibers of Balb/c mice inoculated with strains isolated
from opossums. However, xenodiagnosis was the best diagnostic method.
Triatoma dimidiata, the vector, were collected in and around the
opossums' nests, and human dwellings; and were checked for T. cruzi .
From 102 blood samples of D. virginiana examined 55 (53.9%) were
positive to T. cruzi , the only two D. marsupialis captured were
negative. Significant differences were found between infection, and
both sex and reproductive condition. Eight out of 14 triatomines
collected in peridomestic nests (57.1%), and 32 of 197 captured inside
houses (16.3%) were found infected, suggesting a peridomestic
transmission. The statistically high abundance of infected opossums and
triatomines during the dry season (March to May) suggested the
existence of a seasonality in the peridomestic transmission of T. cruzi
in Dzidzilché. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 |
ISSN: | 1678-8060 0074-0276 1678-8060 0074-0276 |
DOI: | 10.1590/s0074-02762002000500003 |