Incidence of Human and Free-Ranging Wild Rodent Infections with () , Aetiological Agent of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis.

Background: Human and wild rodent infection rates with () are needed to differentiate transmission pathways in anthropogenically altered habitats.

Methods: Human participants in northeast Brazil were tested by the leishmanin skin test (LST) and inspected for lesions/scars characteristic of American clinical leishmaniasis (ACL). Molecular (PCR/qPCR) test records of free-ranging rodents were available from a concurrent capture-mark-recapture study.

High levels of infectiousness of asymptomatic Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis infections in wild rodents highlights their importance in the epidemiology of American Tegumentary Leishmaniasis in Brazil.

Background: The epidemiological significance of wildlife infections with aetiological agents causing human infectious diseases is largely determined by their infection status, contact potential with humans (via vectors for vector-borne diseases), and their infectiousness to maintain onward transmission. This study quantified these parameters in wild and synanthropic naturally infected rodent populations in an endemic region of tegumentary leishmaniasis in northeast Brazil.

Methods: Capture-mark-recapture (CMR) of rodents was conducted over 27 months in domestic/peri domestic environs, household plantations and nearby Atlantic Forest (9,920 single trap nights).