Dogs and cats naturally infected with Trypanosoma cruzi in zoonoses surveillance units from coastal regions of Brazil

Abstract

The Trypanosomatidae family includes protozoa of broad medical and veterinary interest that infect various vertebrates, including humans, and use a range of insects as vector agents. The genus Trypanosoma includes Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi), the etiological agent of Chagas disease, which infects humans and animals, including domestic animals like dogs and cats, which can become infected during the blood meal of triatomine vectors. This study aimed to investigate T. cruzi in 161 blood samples from rescued dogs and cats housed in Zoonoses Surveillance Units (ZSUs) in six municipalities in the coastal region of São Paulo, Brazil. The samples were analyzed using the serological technique of Immunofluorescence Antibody Test (IFAT) and real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) using specific primers for T. cruzi. Spatial visualization through maps showing the distribution of positive cases in the different municipalities studied was also performed. In the IFAT test, three (03) samples from dogs from the municipality of Guarujá were positive for T. cruzi (1.86 %). In the qPCR, 51 samples tested positive for T. cruzi (32.48 %), which belongs to animals from all the municipalities sampled. Thus, investigating T. cruzi in domestic animals from ZSUs enables the identification of potential reservoirs within this environment. Implementing control measures for triatomines, such as installing traps, is essential to epidemiological surveillance in the coastal region of the state of São Paulo.