title: Field assessment of Trypanosoma cruzi infection and host survival in the native rodent Octodon degus.
abstract: Chagas disease is a zoonosis caused by the flagellated parasite Trypanosoma cruzi and transmitted by triatomine insects to several mammalian species acting as reservoir hosts. In the present study, we assess T. cruzi-prevalence, survivorship and T. cruzi-infection rate of the endemic rodent Octodon degus from a hyper-endemic area of Chagas disease in Chile. Parasite detection is performed by PCR assays on blood samples of individuals captured in austral summer of 2010, and on non-infected individuals recaptured in 2011 as well as on new captures. Results show a high infection level in this species (up to 70%). Infected O. degus have the same chance of surviving to the next reproductive season as uninfected individuals, irrespective of sex. We suggest that O. degus, an abundant long-lived rodent with high dispersal capability, could be considered an important native reservoir of T. cruzi in the wild transmission cycle of Chagas disease in Chile.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile. cbotto@uchile.cl
authors.forename: Carezza
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Botto-Mahan
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bacigalupo
authors.forename: Juana P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Correa
authors.forename: Esteban
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Oda
authors.forename: Aldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Solari
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001769:Blood / Q000469:parasitology; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000401:mortality / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D002677:Chile / Q000453:epidemiology; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D046329:Octodon / Q000469:parasitology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000401:mortality* / Q000469:parasitology*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan