title: Low infectiousness of a wildlife host of Leishmania infantum: the crab-eating fox is not important for transmission.
abstract: The epidemiological role of the crab-eating fox Cerdocyon thous in the transmission of Leishmania infantum is assessed in a longitudinal study in Amazon Brazil. A total of 37 wild-caught foxes were immunologically and clinically monitored, and 26 foxes exposed to laboratory colonies of the sandfly vector Lutzomyia longipalpis, over a 15-month period. In total 78% (29/37) of foxes were seropositive for anti-Leishmania IgG on at least 1 occasion, and 38% (8/37) had infections confirmed by PCR and/or by culture. Point prevalences were 74% (serology), 15% (PCR), and 26% (culture). No signs of progressive disease were observed. None of the foxes were infectious to the 1469 sandflies dissected from 44 feeds. A conservative estimate of the possible contribution of foxes to transmission was 9% compared to 91% by sympatric domestic dogs. These results show that crab-eating fox populations do not maintain a transmission cycle independently of domestic dogs. The implication is that they are unlikely to introduce the parasite into Leishmania-free dog populations.
authors.affiliation: orin.courtenay@warwick.ac.uk
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Courtenay
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Quinnell
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Garcez
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dye
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000276:immunology; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000276:immunology; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000469:parasitology / Q000635:transmission; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D005589:Foxes / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology*; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000276:immunology; D015994:Incidence; D018314:Leishmania infantum / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000635:transmission* / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D007074:Immunoglobulin G