title: Trypanosoma cruzi infection in Leontopithecus rosalia at the Reserva Biológica de Poco das Antas, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
abstract: Wild golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia) - endangered primates that are native to the Brazilian Atlantic coastal forest - were surveyed for the presence of Trypanosoma cruzi with the use of Giemsa-stained blood smears, hemocultures and an indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFAT). Positive IFAT with titers ranging from 1:20 to 1:1280 were observed in 52% of the 118 wild tamarins examined and the parasite was isolated from 38 tamarins. No patent parasitemia was observed among the tamarins from which T. cruzi was isolated. Serum conversion and positive hemoculture was observed for three animals that had yielded negative results some months earlier, which indicates that T. cruzi is actively transmitted among tamarins. In contrast to observations with other sylvatic isolates, those from the tamarins were significantly more virulent and most of them produced mortality in experimentally infected Swiss mice. Some variation in the kDNA restriction profiles among the isolates was observed. Electrophoresis with GPI, G6PDH, IDH, MDH and ME enzymes showed a Z2 profile.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Protozoologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
authors.forename: C V
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Lisboa
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dietz
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: N N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Russel
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Jansen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002143:Callitrichinae / Q000469:parasitology*; D002427:Cebidae / Q000469:parasitology; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary*; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D051379:Mice; D008992:Monkey Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000635:transmission; D018512:Parasitemia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary*; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity