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Parasitism in Rattus rattus and sympatric Achatina fulica by Angiostrongylus cantonensis in an urban park in southeast Brazil

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Abstract

In this study, rodents (Rattus rattus) and mollusks (Achatina fulica) were captured in a small forest located in a large metropolitan city in Brazil, and they were examined to investigate possible parasitism by Angiostrongylus cantonensis. The parasites were recovered as helminths from the pulmonary arteries of the synanthropic rodents and as third-stage larvae (with Metastrongylidae family characteristics) from the mollusks. To confirm the species, these larvae were used to experimentally infect Rattus norvegicus for the posterior recovery of adult helminths. To identify the adult helminths, morphological, morphometric, molecular, and phylogenetic techniques were employed. Furthermore, we also characterized the histological lesions associated with parasitism in naturally infected definitive hosts. Our results demonstrated the occurrence of a natural life cycle of A. cantonensis (with the presence of adult helminths) in definitive hosts, Rattus rattus, and third-stage larvae in an intermediate host, A. fulica. In free-living rodents, lesions of granulomatous pneumonia in the lungs and meningitis in the brain were also found. These results warn of the risk of accidental transmission of A. cantonensis to human residents around the park because of the extensive interaction among the fauna of the park, domestic animals, and the surrounding human population.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Park Foundation of Prefeitura of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais.

Funding

This study received financial support from the Research Support Foundation of the State of Minas Gerais (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais, FAPEMIG), WSL grant numbers 18898 and 0242413. Fellowships were provided by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, CNPq (WSL, grant number 480469/2012–1) and the Coordenação de aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brazil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Helmintologia Veterinária, Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais – UFMG, Av. Presidente Antônio Carlos 6627, Belo Horizonte, MG, 31270-901, Brazil

    Lara Ribeiro de Almeida, Jéssica de Souza Joaquim, Cíntia Aparecida de Jesus Pereira & Walter dos Santos Lima

  2. Laboratório de Malacologia, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais – UFMG, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

    Lucas Moreira Botelho & Teofania Heloisa Dutra Amorim Vidigal

  3. Setor de Patologia, Departamento de Clínica E Cirurgia Veterinárias, Escola de Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais – UFMG, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

    Roselene Ecco

  4. Laboratório de Vírus, Departamento de Microbiologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais – UFMG, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

    Giliane de Souza Trindade

  5. Departamento de Biologia Geral, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais – UFMG, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

    Adriano Pereira Paglia

Authors
  1. Lara Ribeiro de Almeida
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  2. Jéssica de Souza Joaquim
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  3. Lucas Moreira Botelho
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  4. Teofania Heloisa Dutra Amorim Vidigal
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  5. Roselene Ecco
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  6. Giliane de Souza Trindade
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  7. Adriano Pereira Paglia
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  8. Cíntia Aparecida de Jesus Pereira
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  9. Walter dos Santos Lima
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and samples collection were performed by Lara Ribeiro de Almeida and Jéssica de Souza Joaquim. Laboratory analysis was performed by Lara Ribeiro de Almeida, Jéssica de Souza Joaquim, Roselene Ecco, and Lucas Moreira Botelho. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Lara Ribeiro de Almeida, Roselene Ecco, Giliane de Souza Trindade, Adriano Pereira Paglia, Walter dos Santos Lima, Teofania Heloisa Dutra Amorim Vidigal, and Cíntia Aparecida de Jesus Pereira. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Walter dos Santos Lima.

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Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee for Animal Research of the UFMG under protocol 306/2017 and by the Biodiversity Information and Authorization System (SISBIO) of the Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio) under license 12989–2.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Section Editor: Hiroshi Sato

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de Almeida, L.R., de Souza Joaquim, J., Botelho, L.M. et al. Parasitism in Rattus rattus and sympatric Achatina fulica by Angiostrongylus cantonensis in an urban park in southeast Brazil. Parasitol Res 122, 347–352 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-022-07656-8

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