TRYPANOSOMA CRUZI INFECTION IN SUGAR GLIDERS (PETAURLIS BREVICEPS) AND HEDGEHOGS (ATELERIX ALBIVENTRIS) VIA INGESTION

Trypanosomiasis is generally considered an exotic tropical disease. American trypanosomiasis (Chagas' Disease) of dogs, cats, armadillos, monkeys, and small wild animals is caused by Trypanosoma cruzi. Although T. cruzi has been detected in chimpanzees and cynomolgus monkeys in captivity, and experimentally in an Australian phalanger marsupial (Trichosurus vulpecula), this is the first report of it detected in naturally infected pet sugar gliders (Petaurus breviceps) and African hedgehogs (Atelerix albiventris). A polymerase chain reaction-based method was used to detect T. cruzi organisms in formalin fixed paraffin embedded blocks from 3 sugar gliders and 1 hedgehog, which were previously diagnosed as T. cruzi-positive using the histopathological method. Sugar gliders and hedgehogs are fond of insects and actively seek arthropods in nightly forays. It is suspected that Triatoma was not feeding on the sugar gliders and hedgehogs, but rather were being eaten. The oral route of infection is often nonfatal and induces a carrier state in South American didelphid opossums, however sugar gliders and hedgehogs appear to be peracutely affected and infection results in death. Copyright 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.