Naturally Acquired Rabies in White-Eared Opossum, Brazil.

Opossums are considered resistant to rabies. Nonhematophagous bats are reservoirs of rabies in urban areas of South America. We analyzed bats and opossums tested for rabies during 2021 in a highly urbanized city in Brazil to understand spillover in an urban setting. Wildlife surveillance is necessary to prevent rabies in humans and domestic animals.

Visceral leishmaniasis in an environmentally protected area in southeastern Brazil: Epidemiological and laboratory cross-sectional investigation of phlebotomine fauna, wild hosts and canine cases.

BACKGROUND: Leishmaniasis is a rapidly expanding zoonosis that shows increasing urbanization. Concern exists regarding the role of wildlife in visceral leishmaniasis (VL) transmission, due to frequent natural or anthropogenic environmental changes that facilitate contact between wildlife, humans and their pets. The municipality of Campinas, in southeastern Brazil, initially recorded VL in 2009, when the first autochthonous case was confirmed in a dog living in an upscale residential condominium, located inside an environmentally protected area (EPA). Since then, disease transmission remains restricted to dogs inhabiting two geographically contiguous condominiums within the EPA. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of the VL focus to investigate Leishmania spp. infection in domestic dogs, wild mammals and sand flies using molecular tools and recommended serological techniques. Canine seroprevalences of 1.5% and 1.2% were observed in 2013 and 2015, respectively. Six insect species, confirmed or suspected vectors or potential transmitters of Leishmania, were identified. Two specimens of the main L. (L.) infantum vector in Brazil, Lutzomyia longipalpis, were captured in the EPA. Natural infection by L. (L.) infantum was recorded in one Expapillata firmatoi specimen and two Pintomyia monticola. Natural infection by L. (L.) infantum and Leishmania subgenus Viannia was also detected in two white-eared opossums (Didelphis albiventris), a known reservoir of VL. Geographical coordinates of each sampling of infected animals were plotted on a map of the EPA, demonstrating proximity between these animals, human residences, including the dogs positive for VL, and forest areas. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The EPA, which is inhabited by humans, has an active VL focus. The risk of establishing and maintaining disease transmission foci in similar scenarios, i.e. wild areas that undergo environmental modifications, is evident. Moreover, different epidemiological profiles of VL must be included to elaborate prevention and control measures that consider the particularities of each transmission area.

De CCZ a UVZ: mudança de paradigma no controle de zoonoses / From CCZ to UVZ: paradigm shift in the control of zoonoses

O controle de zoonoses é atribuição dos municípios que, por meio de normativas legais, devem adotar políticas públicas sobre o tema. Em Campinas, as estratégias de vigilância das zoonoses foram desenvolvidas por diferentes serviços. A partir da década de 2000, o serviço municipal responsável pelo controle das zoonoses acumulou demandas referentes à proteção animal. A complexidade das duas áreas (controle de zoonoses e proteção animal) fez com que o município, em 2014, realizasse dicotomia entre estes serviços. As ações de controle de zoonoses passaram a ser realizadas pela Unidade de Vigilância de Zoonoses; as de proteção animal, pelo Departamento de Proteção e Bem-Estar Animal. Este artigo descreve os fatores que levaram o município a fazer esta dicotomia. A experiência de Campinas indica que a divisão entre as ações de saúde pública e de proteção animal é exequível e pode ser um exemplo de política pública para outros municípios...

Infection by Leishmania spp. in Free-Ranging Opossums (Didelphis albiventris) in an Environmentally Protected Area Inhabited by Humans in Southeastern Brazil.

There is a growing concern about the participation of wild hosts and reservoirs in the epidemiology of leishmaniasis, particularly within the context of increasingly frequent environmental changes and the expansion of the One Health concept. This work is a molecular research of infection by Leishmania spp. among the wildlife of an environmentally protected area located in the municipality of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil. The studied area has a history of intense environmental changes, with notifications of human cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis in the 1990s, and a focus of canine visceral leishmaniasis since 2009. Eighty-two wild mammals were sampled by monthly captures in this region over a 1-year period. Blood samples were collected from each animal and subjected to DNA extraction and PCR using primers for the region of the internal transcribed spacer-1. The results of gene sequencing for the first time revealed the infection of opossums (Didelphis albiventris) by Leishmania spp., subgenera Leishmania and Viannia, in Campinas. These findings, in addition to environmental and historical characteristics of the studied area, indicate a possible role of wildlife in the introduction and/or maintenance of natural foci of leishmaniasis transmission.

Dog and cat management through sterilization: Implications for population dynamics and veterinary public policies.

The present study aimed to compare different sterilization scenarios allowing the adoption of the most adequate strategy to control owned dog and cat population sizes as the official veterinary public policy for animal control in an urban area of Campinas municipality, Brazil. To achieve this goal, the vital parameters of the owned pet population were measured in a neighborhood of Campinas called Jardim Vila Olimpia through questionnaires used in two census studies performed in February 2012 and June 2013. Different hypothetical sterilization scenarios were compared with the scenario of a single sterilization campaign performed in the study area between the census studies. Using a deterministic mathematical model, population dynamics were simulated for these different scenarios. We have observed that for both owned dogs and cats, the impact on the population size achieved by a single sterilization campaign would be diluted over the years, equating to the impact achieved by the usual sterilization rate practiced before the sterilization campaign yearly. Moreover, using local and global sensitivity analyses, we assessed the relative influence on animal population evolution of each vital parameter used in the mathematical models. The more influential parameters for both species were the carrying capacity of the environment and sterilization rates of males and females (for both species). We observed that even with sterilizing 100% of the intact animals annually, it would not be possible to obtain proportions greater than 86% and 88% of sterilized dogs and cats, respectively, after 20 years due to the high introduction of new intact animals. There is no public dog and cat sterilization service in place in the city, and sporadic and local sterilization campaigns are performed with a prior communication to the owners to bring their animals to be sterilized in a selected veterinary facility. If a sterilization campaign was performed annually in the study area, it would have the most favorable cost effectiveness ratio after 20 years compared to the scenarios of 50% and 100% sterilization of intact animals annually. These results allowed the veterinary public policy stakeholders to make decisions based on scientific evidence to implement adequate control of dog and cat populations in urban areas, aiming to reduce zoonosis transmission to humans and other problems associated with uncontrolled animal populations.

Caracterização de casos de agressão canina em Campinas, São Paulo, Brasil / Characterization of cases of canine aggression in Campinas, SP, Brazil

Foi realizado um estudo retrospectivo com os dados sobre casos de agressão canina notificados em 2009 em Campinas, São Paulo, Brasil. Foram obtidas informações de 87 (3,8%) entre 2.281 casos. A incidência acumulada de agressões foi de 2,42% por ano (IC95%: 2,32-2,51) para cada mil habitantes. A maior parte das vítimas de cães agressores eram homens (53,0%), adultos (72,0%) e os próprios proprietários (52,9%). Os ataques ocorreram principalmente na rua (55,2%), enquanto a vítima interagia com o cão (79,3%) e os membros superiores foram a parte do corpo mais acometi- da (49,4%). Os cães eram majoritariamente machos (74,7%), adultos (74,3%), sem raça definida (65,5%), não castrados (98,9%), domiciliados (55,2%), sem adestramento (98,1%) e a metade deles já havia causado agressão com mordedura. A agressão canina não foi atribuída a sexo, raça, estado reprodutivo, tipo de restrição, ou adestramento dos animais, pois a distribuição da frequência destas variáveis na população canina do município era desconhecida. Para desenvol- ver protocolos de prevenção de mordeduras, devem ser realizados estudos populacionais para avaliar as características e a prevalência da agressão canina.

A retrospective study was conducted with information on the cases of canine aggression notified in 2009 in the municipality of Campinas, state of São Paulo, Brazil. Information was obtained from 87 (3.8%) out of 2,281 cases. Cumulative incidence of canine aggression was 2.42% per year (CI95%: 2.32-2.51) per 1000 inhabitants. Most victims of aggressive dogs were men (53.0%), adults (72.0%), and owners (52.9%). The attacks occurred mainly in the street (55.2%), while the victim was interacting with the dog (79.3%), and the upper limbs were the most affected part of the body (49.4%). Most of these dogs were males (74.7%), adults (74.3%), mixed-breed (65.5%), not castrated (98.9%), restricted (55.2%), without training (98.1%), and half of them had already bitten. Canine aggression was not associated to sex, breed, reproductive status, type of restrain, and training, because frequency distribution of these variables among the canine population of Campinas is unknown. In order to develop preventive protocols for dog bites, populational studies assessing the characteristics and prevalence of dog aggression are needed.

Environmental inducers of schistosomiasis mansoni in Campinas, Brazil.

Human occupation/activity in the suburbs of the large cities in Brazil, together with high social vulnerability associated with poor living conditions, influence the dynamics of schistosomiasis mansoni as well as several other emerging and re-emerging diseases. Previous notification data surveys for Campinas, São Paulo state, Brazil, carried out by the Information System for Notification Disease, show that there are distinct prevalence differences across healthcare districts of the city. This paper supports the hypothesis that the distribution of schistosomiasis is not random and that the centralized location of cases are linked to human behaviour, in particular to human activities that interfere with basic landscape structure. This paper analyzes the spatial patterns of the parasitic worm Schistosoma mansoni and its intermediate host Biomphalaria comparing disease prevalence with natural conditions and the current pattern of territory occupation by the population. The spatial and hierarchical distribution of factors related to the environmental conditions and land use that indicate the risk for schistosomiasis has been surveyed. It was found that landscape characteristics define the areas at risk for this endemic disease and, as a result, a risk map comprising different risk classes was established. This risk map highlights the regions prone to become new foci for infection or that serves to maintain an existing focus. The research approach used attempts to introduce "geotechnology", i.e. a social application in which better knowledge about these foci, designated endemic "hot spots" can assist preventive public intervention measures in a way that is inexpensive and easy to handle.