HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Herrer, A. Articles by Christensen, H. A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Herrer, A. Articles by Christensen, H. A.

Leishmania Braziliensis in the Panamanian Two-Toed Sloth, Choloepus Hoffmanni^*

Aristides Herrer AND Howard A. Christensen

A total of 498 two-toed sloths, Choloepus hoffmanni, collected in central Panama was examined for Leishmania braziliensis over a 10-year period. Isolations of the parasite from 96 (19.3%) of the animals were confirmed by culture and inoculation of golden hamsters. Improved culture techniques developed toward the end of the study assisted in determining a greater prevalence of the disease. Infections were completely cryptic in all animals, and the parasite was isolated from skin, blood, liver, spleen, bone marrow and lung tissues. Sloths maintained under seminatural conditions remained infected up to 23 months, the longest period of survival. This edentate, considered the principal reservoir host of L. braziliensis in Panama, showed infection rates from 0–59.4% in various communities, which appeared to correlate with the parasite prevalence in the indigenous human populations.

Accepted for publication April 19, 1980.

^* This work was partially supported by a research grant (AI-01252) from the NIAID, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.

Address reprint requests to: Dr. Howard A. Christensen, Gorgas Memorial Laboratory, Box 935, APO Miami 34002 or Apartado 6991, Panama 5, Republic of Panama.

Present address: Institutos Nacionales de Salud, Apartado No. 451, Lima, Peru.