Hematological and blood chemistry alterations in coatis (Nasua nasua) naturally infected by Trypanosoma evansi in the Pantanal, Brazil

Abstract

During a study on the wildlife reservoir of Trypanosoma evansi, 40 coatis (Nasua nasua) were caught in the Pantanal of Nhecolândia subregion, Brazil. The values observed in infected coatis (16/40) were 4.21 x 106/mm3 for red blood cell count, 12.68 x 103/mm3 for white blood cell count, 28.19% for hematocrit, 9.51 mg/dl for hemoglobin, 73.60 mg/dl for glucose and 1.18 g/dl for albumin. The infected coatis presented anemia, hypoglycemia and low albumin values. These data are indications of the importance of coatis as a wild reservoir and of T. evansi as a disease-causing parasite in coatis. The nature of the blood and chemistry alterations needs to be elucidated. This is the first report of a disease caused by T. evansi in coatis.