Discrete typing units of Trypanosoma cruzi identified in rural dogs and cats in the humid Argentinean Chaco

• DOI: 10.1017/s003118201200159x
• Publication Date: 2012-10-12T08:58:14Z
• Authors: G. F. ENRIQUEZ; M. V. CARDINAL; M. M. OROZCO; L. LANATI; A. G. SCHIJMAN; R. E. GÜRTLER
• Keywords: Rural Population; Trypanosoma cruzi; Argentina; Cat Diseases; 03 medical and health sciences; Dogs; 0302 clinical medicine; https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6; CATS; Animals; Humans; Chagas Disease; Dog Diseases; Triatoma; https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1; Disease Reservoirs; DISCRETE TYPING UNITS; CHAGAS DISEASE; TRYPANOSOMA CRUZI; Xenodiagnosis; Insect Vectors; 3. Good health; DOGS; Cats; RESERVOIR; RESERVOIRS; VECTOR-BORNE DISEASES

SUMMARYThe discrete typing units (DTUs) of Trypanosoma cruzi that infect domestic dogs and cats have rarely been studied. With this purpose we conducted a cross-sectional xenodiagnostic survey of dog and cat populations residing in 2 infested rural villages in Pampa del Indio, in the humid Argentine Chaco. Parasites were isolated by culture from 44 dogs and 12 cats with a positive xenodiagnosis. DTUs were identified from parasite culture samples using a strategy based on multiple polymerase-chain reactions. TcVI was identified in 37 of 44 dogs and in 10 of 12 cats, whereas TcV was identified in 5 dogs and in 2 cats –a new finding for cats. No mixed infections were detected. The occurrence of 2 dogs infected with TcIII –classically found in armadillos– suggests a probable link with the local sylvatic transmission cycle involving Dasypus novemcinctus armadillos and a potential risk of human infection with TcIII. Our study reinforces the importance of dogs and cats as domestic reservoir hosts and sources of various DTUs infecting humans, and suggests a link between dogs and the sylvatic transmission cycle of TcIII.