Molecular and serological investigation of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in dogs in French Guiana

Clinical cases of Chagas disease, an infection caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, have been recently described in humans and dogs in French Guiana, a French overseas department located in South America. Elsewhere in endemic countries for this disease, cases of asymptomatic infections have been described. We performed a prevalence survey of the infection in dogs in Cayenne and Kourou, the main cities of French Guiana. In 2014 and 2016, blood samples were taken from 153 dogs from Cayenne and Kourou. All dogs were apparently healthy at the time of sampling. Sex and age of the dogs were recorded as well as the location where they lived. Serum samples from dogs were screened using a rapid immunochromatographic test (Chagas Stat-Pak®Assay, Chembio, USA) detecting anti-T. cruzi antibodies. Simultaneously, a real-time PCR targeting T. cruzi kDNA was performed on the blood samples of the dog. Six dogs (3.9%) were positive only in serology and one (0.6%) only in qPCR. Two dogs were positive for both tests. The prevalence of infection (positivity for one of the two tests) was 5.8% (9/153). There was no significant difference (χ2 test) between Cayenne (5/100) and Kourou (4/53), between males (3/60) and females (6/93), or between 2014 (2/55) and 2016 (7/98). Canine surveillance is a useful tool for the public health risk assessment of Chagas disease. Positive dogs, even when asymptomatic, should be treated as they can serve as a reservoir for T. cruzi.