Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: GABRIELA MERCEDES ULLOA URIZAR

Uma banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO de DOUTORADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : GABRIELA MERCEDES ULLOA URIZAR
DATE: 29/08/2022
TIME: 15:00
LOCAL: Online via Google Meet
TITLE:

Molecular epidemiological surveillance of Plasmodium spp. in the interface human-wildlife in the Peruvian Amazon

KEY WORDS:

Malaria; OneHealth; Zoonoses; Hotspot; Wild hosts; Eco-epidemiology; Amazon; Indigenous communities; Subsistence hunting.

PAGES: 150
BIG AREA: Ciências Agrárias
AREA: Medicina Veterinária
SUMMARY:

Zoonotic diseases are a huge global public health problem, with social and economic impacts that go beyond health, often affecting "neglected" populations. Surveillance and monitoring of zoonotic diseases through studies that consider broadly diverse interfaces (including humans, vectors, domestic rodents, and domestic and free-living wildlife) is challenging due to the breadth, but a great contribution to health knowledge under a "One Health" concept. Indigenous populations are the most affected segments of society in Peru, with abysmal differences in health indicators compared to the national average, such as maternal mortality rates, malnutrition, and high morbidity rates from preventable causes. Limiting factors in access to health services due to geographical, economic, and cultural barriers are problems that affect most of these neglected populations. The Amazon is characterized as a global biodiversity hotspot, within which we find multiple vector species and free wildlife that act as reservoirs for a wide range of zoonotic pathogens. Malaria caused by Plasmodium spp. is considered a recent zoonosis due to the cross transfer of the parasite between humans and neotropical primates. However, there are still information gaps about the disease at different interfaces (wild and domestic animals, vectors and humans). Therefore, in this study we propose an alternative strategy for identification and surveillance of Plasmodium spp. by developing an epidemiological framework that includes the interfaces of wildlife and domestic animals, vectors and humans in a remote area of the Peruvian Amazon using molecular techniques. Free-living wildlife samples collected through the collaboration of subsistence hunters and other biological samples from humans and domestic rodents from an indigenous Yagua community located in the Yavari-Mirin river basin on the Peru-Brazil border, approximately 150 km from urban centers and where there is no agricultural activity, were analyzed. As for the human results, according to the molecular consensus, at least 38.2% (50/131) of the samples were detected as Plasmodium spp. A total of 98.0% of the samples considered positive were identified as P. vivax by Cox3 nested PCR (Cox3 nPCR) and Cytb gene sequence analysis. A co-infection of P. vivax and P. malariae/brasillianumwas detected in one case and only one P. falciparum infection by Cox3 nPCR. Although commercial real-time PCR diagnostics (qPCR Viasure) was the least time-consuming of the three molecular techniques investigated, it failed to detect three possible P. vivax infections. In addition, associated social and cultural risk factors, collected through questionnaires to the local population, will be included. The eco-epidemiological studies will allow us to know the relationship between pathogens, climatic characteristics, biological and ecological factors of the wildlife, this information will implement diagnostic strategies suitable for the tropical context and facilitate the control of infectious diseases.

BANKING MEMBERS:
Externa à Instituição - ALESSANDRA NAVA
Externo à Instituição - ALESSANDRA SCOFIELD AMARAL
Externa à Instituição - MARIA J. PONS
Externa ao Programa - 518.627.863-72 - MARIA VIVINA BARROS MONTEIRO - UFPA
Externo à Instituição - OMAR EDUARDO CORNEJO ORDAZ
Presidente - 742.439.501-72 - PEDRO GINÉS MAYOR APARICIO - UNIBARCELONA
Interno - 388501 - WASHINGTON LUIZ ASSUNCAO PEREIRA