Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Acta Trop. 2012 Apr;122(1):164-7. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2011.12.003. Epub 2011 Dec 13.
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.
恰加斯病是一种由鞭毛寄生虫克氏锥虫引起的动物传染病，通过三锥虫传播给几种作为储存宿主的哺乳动物。在本研究中，我们评估了来自智利恰加斯病高度流行地区的地方性啮齿动物——多刺鼠的克氏锥虫流行率、存活率和克氏锥虫感染率。通过对 2010 年南半球夏季捕获的个体的血液样本以及 2011 年重新捕获的未感染个体和新捕获的个体进行 PCR 检测来检测寄生虫。结果表明，该物种的感染水平很高（高达 70%）。感染的 O. degus 与未感染的个体具有相同的存活到下一个繁殖季节的机会，无论性别如何。我们认为，O. degus 是一种丰富的、寿命长的、具有高扩散能力的啮齿动物，它可能被认为是智利恰加斯病野传循环中的一个重要的本地克氏锥虫储存宿主。
