High infection prevalences by Trypanosoma minasense in non-human primates from the Southeast region of Brazil

Non-human primates (NHPs) are reported as exclusive hosts of Trypanosoma minasense, whose transmission cycle remains unknown. We investigated trypanosomatid infections in 194 NHPs of nine species from the Brazilian Southeast region. We evaluated the impact of landscape composition and forest fragmentation on T. minasense infection. In the Atlantic Forest areas, Sapajus nigritus presented a higher positivity for T. minasense on the blood slides (60.9%) compared to Callithrix spp. (24.6%) and Alouatta guariba clamitans (20.7%); molecular analysis revealed higher infection prevalences in S. nigritus (87.0%) and A. g. clamitans (78.8%) than Callithrix spp. (50.8%). Callithrix spp. from the Cerrado and bordering areas showed higher infection prevalences by T. minasense on the blood slides (51.8%) and molecular diagnosis (77.6%). Eight (7.8%) positive hemocultures were obtained, but in only one (from A. g. clamitans) parasites were isolated and characterized as Crithidia mellificae. Trypanosoma cruzi TcII and T. rangeli lineage A were identified in Leontopithecus rosalia and C. penicillata, respectively. The results indicate that Alouatta, Callithrix, and Sapajus genera are highly exposed to T. minasense in the study area and landscape analysis revealed that these infections were inversely correlated with the proportion of forest and directly correlated with the forest fragmentation.