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. 1991 Aug;77(4):624-7.

The lesions and prevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi in opossums and armadillos from southern Louisiana

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  • PMID: 1907654

The lesions and prevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi in opossums and armadillos from southern Louisiana

S C Barr et al. J Parasitol. 1991 Aug.

Abstract

The prevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi in 48 opossums and 98 armadillos from southern Louisiana was studied. Sixteen opossums (33.3%) and 1 armadillo (1.1%) were positive for T. cruzi by blood culture. Hearts from 45 opossums and the tissues from the 1 blood culture-positive armadillo were available for histopathological examination. Although histopathology revealed T. cruzi pseudocysts in 6 opossums, 2 were not positive on blood culture. Therefore, 18 opossums (37.5%) were positive for T. cruzi. Twenty-two of 45 opossums had histological evidence of myocarditis. No lesion typical of infection with T. cruzi was observed in the armadillo tissues. These results substantiate that the opossum is a current reservoir host of T. cruzi infection in southern Louisiana and that armadillos may be of relatively minor importance.

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