1Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, College of STEM, Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, NC, USA
2Department of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, St. George's University, Grenada, West Indies
*Corresponding author: R Sharma; Email: rsharma@sgu.edu
Online published on 27 March, 2019.
Chagas disease is an arthropod borne parasitic disease of humans and animals caused by infection with Trypanosoma cruzi. Chagas disease is prevalent in Latin America and the Caribbean nations. Rats (Rattus species) are considered a reservoir host in transmission of the disease. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of antibodies against T. cruzi in brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) from Grenada. A total of 145 rat sera were examined for T. cruzi antibodies using a qualitative immunochromatographic screening test: Chagas Stat Pak™ (Chembio Diagnostic System, Inc. Medford NY, USA). A seroprevalence of 10.3% (15/145) for T. cruzi antibodies was found. Results from this study indicate a moderate exposure level of R. norvegicus to T. cruzi in Grenada. Further research to find out the presence of the insect vector near the rat colony and the relationship of reservoir host in disease transmission is indicated.
Antibodies, Brown Rat, Grenada, Trypanosoma cruzi
