Abstract
Naegleria fowleri, a free-living and thermophilic ameba, is the etiological agent of primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). PAM is a rare and highly fatal neurologic disease in humans, and has been rarely documented in animal species. This report describes the pathological and etiological findings of a fatal case of N. fowleri-associated meningoencephalitis in a cow in Southern Brazil. Microscopic findings were consistent with severe, multifocal, hemorrhagic, and necrosuppurative meningoencephalitis associated with a large number of amebic trophozoites compatible with N. fowleri. Brain samples subjected to molecular assays generated a 315 bp fragment, which presented 99% identity with a N. fowleri sequence previously deposited in GenBank. This is the first study reporting the molecular detection of N. fowleri in a case of cattle meningoencephalitis in Latin America, and the obtained sequence represents the first GenBank deposit of N. fowleri identified in Brazil to this day. Additionally, the case reported is the second occurrence of N. fowleri-associated disease in the same city, drawing attention to the local importance of infection by this ameba and potential risk for human infections.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank Vitor Fernandes and Daniel Leal dos Santos for their great technical support with the map depicted in the article. We also thank Vitor Fernandes for his assistance proofreading the manuscript.
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This study was financed by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES).
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Luan Cleber Henker, Marina Paula Lorenzett, Denise Leal dos Santos, David Driemeier, Veridiana Gomes Virginio, Saulo Petinatti Pavarini, and Marilise Brittes Rott. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Luan Cleber Henker and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Henker, L.C., Lorenzett, M.P., dos Santos, D.L. et al. Naegleria fowleri-associated meningoencephalitis in a cow in Southern Brazil—first molecular detection of N. fowleri in Brazil. Parasitol Res 120, 2873–2879 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-021-07209-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-021-07209-5