Molecular eco-epidemiology of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis in road-killed mammals reveals Cerdocyon thous and Cuniculus paca as new hosts harboring this fungal pathogen.

Wild animals infected with Paracoccidioides brasiliensis represent important indicators of this fungal agent presence in the environment. The detection of this pathogen in road-killed wild animals has shown to be a key strategy for eco-epidemiological surveillance of paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM), helping to map hot spots for human infection. Molecular detection of P. brasiliensis in wild animals from PCM outbreak areas has not been performed so far. The authors investigated the presence of P. brasiliensis through nested-PCR in tissue samples obtained from road-killed animals collected nearby a human PCM outbreak spot, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil and border areas. Eighteen species of mammals were analyzed: Dasypus novemcinctus (nine-banded armadillo, n = 6), Cerdocyon thous (crab-eating fox, n = 4), Coendou spinosus (hairy dwarf porcupine, n = 2), Lontra longicaudis (Neotropical river otter, n = 1), Procyon cancrivorus (crab-eating raccoon, n = 1), Galactis cuja (lesser grison, n = 1), Tamandua tetradactyla (collared anteater, n = 1), Cuniculus paca (paca, n = 1), and Bradypus variegatus (brown-throated three-toed sloth, n = 1). Specific P. brasiliensis sequences were detected in the liver, spleen, and lymph node samples from 4/6 (66.7%) D. novemcinctus, reinforcing the importance of these animals on Paracoccidioides ecology. Moreover, lymph nodes samples from two C. thous, as well as lung samples from the C. paca were also positive. A literature review of Paracoccidioides spp. in vertebrates in Brazil indicates C. thous and C. paca as new hosts for the fungal pathogen P. brasiliensis.