Toxoplasma gondii in Neotropical Primates
Carmen Niehaus1,2, Manuel Spínola3,
Chunlei Su4, Norman Rojas5, Oscar
Rico-Chávez6, Carlos N.
Ibarra-Cerdeña7, Janet Foley8,
Gerardo Suzán6, Gustavo A.
Gutiérrez-Espeleta1, Andrea
Chaves1,8,*.
1Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica.
2Posgrado Regional en Ciencias Veterinarias
Tropicales, Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica.
3Instituto Internacional de Conservación y Manejo de
Vida Silvestre, Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica.
4Department of Microbiology, College of Arts and
Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
5Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Tropicales,
Facultad de Microbiología, Universidad de Costa Rica.
6Departamento de Etología, Fauna Silvestre y Animales
de Laboratorio, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia,
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
7Departamento de Ecología Humana, Centro de
Investigaciones y de Estudios de Avanzados del IPN (Cinvestav), Unidad
Mérida, Mérida.
8Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, School of
Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis.
*Corresponding author: Andrea Chaves
E-mail address: andreachaves.biol@gmail.com
Summary:
The apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii has been found in
more than 350 species of homoeothermic vertebrates in diverse climates
and geographic areas. In most animals, T. gondii produces mild or
asymptomatic infection. However, acute and hyperacute toxoplasmosis is
associated with high mortality rates observed in Neotropical primates
(NP) in captivity. NP are distributed in 20 countries across the
Americas, and although infection has been reported in certain countries
and species, toxoplasmosis in the wild and its impact on NP population
survival is unknown. Differences among species in exposure rates and
disease susceptibility may be due in part to differences in host
behavior and ecology. Costa Rica has four species of NP, howler
(Alouatta palliata ), spider (Ateles geoffroyi ), capuchin
(Cebus imitator ), and squirrel monkeys (Saimiri
oerstedii ). Here we report for the first time NP exposure to T.
gondii using a modified agglutination test (MAT) in 245 serum samples
of NP (198 wild and 47 from captivity) from Costa Rica. Associations of
serostatus with environmental (forest cover, annual mean temperature),
anthropogenic (human population density), and biological (sex) variables
in howler and capuchin monkeys were evaluated. The seroprevalence among
wild NP was 11.6% (23/198), compared with 60% (28/47) in captive
monkeys, with significant differences between species (P
<0.05), suggesting behavior and ecology influences. In
general, antibody titers were low for wild NP (<128) and high
for captive NP (>8192), suggesting higher exposure due to
management factors and increased life span in captivity. Seropositivity
in howler monkeys was positively related to forest cover and inversely
related to annual rainfall. For capuchins, annual rainfall was inversely
related to seropositivity. Surveillance of T. gondii in NP in
captivity and in the wild is required to understand drivers of the
infection and develop novel strategies to protect them.
Keywords:
Serology, Alouatta palliata , Ateles geoffroyi , Cebus
imitator , Saimiri oerstedii, endoparasites, Latin America