Rattus spp. are reservoirs of many human zoonoses, but their role in domestic transmission cycles of human trypanosomiasis is underestimated. In this study, we report trypanosome-infected Rattus norvegicus and Rattus rattus in human dwellings in slums neighboring Maracay, a large city near Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. Blood samples of R. norvegicus and R. rattus examined by PCR and FFLB (fluorescent fragment length barcoding) revealed a prevalence of 6.3% / 31.1% for Trypanosoma lewisi (agent of rat- and flea-borne human emergent zoonosis), and 10.5% / 24.6% for Trypanosoma cruzi (agent of Chagas disease). Detection in flea guts of T. lewisi (76%) and, unexpectedly, T. cruzi (21.3%) highlighted the role of fleas as carriers and vectors of these trypanosomes. A high prevalence of rats infected with T. lewisi and T. cruzi and respective flea and triatomine vectors poses a serious risk of human trypanosomiasis in Venezuelan slums. Anthropogenic activities responsible for growing rat and triatomine populations within human dwellings drastically increased human exposure to trypanosomes. This scenario has allowed for the reemergence of Chagas disease as an urban zoonosis in Venezuela and can propitiate the emergence of atypical T. lewisi infection in humans.

中文翻译：

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委内瑞拉贫民窟的大鼠和蚤中的人畜共患锥虫。

黄毛属。是人类许多人畜共患病的宿主，但它们在人类锥虫病的国内传播周期中的作用被低估了。在这项研究中，我们报告锥虫感染褐家鼠和黑家鼠在贫民窟周边马拉凯，大市附近加拉加斯，委内瑞拉的首都人的住所。的血液样品褐家鼠和R.褐检查通过PCR和FFLB（荧光片段长度条形码）揭示的6.3％/ 31.1％患病锥虫lewisi（大鼠和蚤源性人类射人畜共患的剂）和10.5％ / 24.6％的锥虫锥虫（恰加斯病）。刘易斯跳蚤肠道的检测（76％）和出乎意料的T. cruzi（21.3％）强调了跳蚤作为这些锥虫的载体和载体的作用。感染了T. lewisi和T. cruzi以及相应的跳蚤和三松散载体的大鼠的高流行率在委内瑞拉贫民窟造成了人类锥虫病的严重风险。人为活动导致人类住所内大鼠和三atomine种群的增长，大大增加了人类对锥虫的暴露。这种情况使查加斯病重新成为委内瑞拉的城市人畜共患病，并可能促使人类出现非典型的T. lewisi感染。