We collaborate with an animal rescue facility in the Ecuadorian Amazon. They have had incidents of primates, Squirrel monkeys, Capuchin monkeys, Woolly Monkeys and Spider Monkeys, that have suddenly died. In autopsy, the hearts of some of these monkeys were found to be filled with nematodes. This suggested Dirofilaria to me. I have not been able to find previous reports of Dirofilaria infecting primates in the Neotropics except incidental reports of primate infections without details. Proper identification of the parasite will lead to treatment options and preventative measures to reduce the probability of infections. We are planning to start a screening program to look for microfilarae in peripheral blood smears. Any assistance would be appreciated.
Hi Cliff,
Sounds interesting. Possibly digital PCR. It is highly sensitive and was developed with applications like you mentioned in mind. I have only used it with plant pathogens for increased sensitivity to good effect but it could probably be easily adapted to that system. I have the equipment, we would just need to work on developing an assay. I am not sure if you were thinking molecular testing or not, but what you want to do is one of the intended uses of dPCR.
Brian
Please have a look at these useful links.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/22499968_Dirofilaria_macrodemos_and_D_panamensis_spp_n_Nematoda_Filarioidea_from_Central_and_South_American_Sloths
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/38017473_Dirofilaria_immitis_and_Trypanosoma_cruzi_natural_co-infection_in_dogs
https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1756-3305-6-288
Article Dirofilaria macrodemos and D. panamensis spp. n. (Nematoda: ...
Article Dirofilaria immitis and Trypanosoma cruzi natural co-infection in dogs
I would be interested in knowing the sources of these parasites. Is this due to disruption of habitat by humans and modern civilization?
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