Experimental infection parameters in Galea spixii (Rodentia: Caviidae) with Leishmania infantum chagasi

• Main Authors: Patrícia Batista Barra Medeiros Barbosa, Paula Viviane Sousa de Queiroz, Selma Maria B Jerônimo, Maria de Fátima Freire de Melo Ximenes
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde 2008-09-01
• Series: Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz.
• Subjects: Galea spixii; Leishmania infantum chagasi; animal hosts
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0074-02762008000600006

In order to better understand the epidemiological transmission network of leishmaniasis, an endemic disease in Northeast Brazil, we investigated the susceptibility of Spix yellow-toothed cavies (Galea spixii) to the Leishmania infantum chagasi parasite. Nine cavies were experimentally infected, separated into three groups and monitored at 30, 90 and 180 days, respectively. Amastigotes were identified in the spleen slides of two cavies killed 180 days after infection. Antibodies against the L. i. chagasi were identified in one of the cavies. This demonstrates that G. spixii is in fact capable of maintaining a stable infection by L. i. chagasi without alterations in biochemical and hematological parameters of the host and without perceivable micro and macroscopic lesions.