Entomology, Ornithology & Herpetology: Current Research
Open Access
ISSN: 2161-0983
ISSN: 2161-0983
João Carlos Araujo Carreira, Bianca dos Santos Carvalho, Reginaldo Peçanha Brazil and Alba Valéria Machado da Silva
In the present study, it was shown under experimental conditions that Trypanosoma evansi could be mechanically transmitted to Rattus norvegicus by leeches (Haementeria lutzi). Additionally, we also described some aspects related to the behavior of the Trypanosoma evansi in the leeches after an infective blood feeding, as follows: a) 10 minutes after the parasites were ingested; they promptly progressed to the coelomic cavity. b) Approximately, from 10 to 30 minutes inside the gut, rounded and dividing forms together with stumpy and slender trypomastigotes showed a random dispersion. c) 24 hours after, the trypanosomes also invaded both, the salivary glands as well as the proboscis cells. Our results suggest that leeches of the species Haementeria lutzi could have some role as a probable alternative vector of Trypanosoma evansi at wetlands in Brazil.