Trypanosoma cruzi in Triatomines and wild mammals in the National Park of Serra das Confusões, Northeastern Brazil

Abstract

Introduction: The National Park of Serra das Confusões (NPSC) is a protected area of natural landscape located in Southern Piauí, Brazil, and it is considered as one of the largest and most important protected areas in the Caatinga biome. Methods: The natural occurrences of trypanosomatids from hemocultures on small mammals and cultures from intestinal contents triatomines were detected through molecular diagnoses of blood samples, and phylogenetic relationship analysis of the isolates parasites using the trypanosome barcode (V7V8 SSUrDNA) were realized. Results: Only two Galea spixii (8.1%) and six Triatoma brasiliensis (17.6%) were positive by hemoculture, and the isolates parasites were cryopreserved. All the isolates obtained were positioned on the Trypanosoma cruzi DTU TcI branch. Conclusions: Research focused on studying the wild animal fauna in preserved and underexplored environments has made it possible to elucidate indispensable components of different epidemiological chains of diseases with zoonotic potential.