DETECTION OF LEISHMANIA SP. IN SOUTH AMERICAN GREY FOXES IN PATAGONIA, ARGENTINA

JAVIER MILLÁN; ALEJANDRO TRAVAINI; JOSE VICENTE LÓPEZ BAO; STEPHANIA ZANET; ALEJANDRO RODRIGUEZ; EZIO FERROGLIO

Lyon

Congreso; Joint WDA (Wildlife Diseases Association) and EWDA (European Wildlife Disease Association) Conference; 2012

Wildlife Diseases Association and European Wildlife Disease Association

Blood samples were obtained from five South American grey foxes (Pseudalopex griseus) captured in “Bosques Petrificados” Natural Monument (Santa Cruz Province, Patagonia, Argentina; 47º 58’S, 67º 97’O), preserved in FTA cards, and analyzed for the presence of Leishmania spp. DNA by real-time PCR. All the foxes were positive for parasites belonging to the L. donovani complex. As far as we know, Leishmania spp. has never been found so far south in America. Leishmania infantum is believed to infect dogs and humans only in the northern provinces of Argentina and, according to the literature, the southernmost capture of a potential sand fly vector (Lutzomyia oswaldoi) was recorded 750 km northern to these cases, at 41ºS. This finding extends the distribution area of L. infantum/chagasi and highlights the relevance of wild carnivores as potential reservoirs of this parasite.