{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,7]],"date-time":"2026-03-07T02:36:33Z","timestamp":1772850993503,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene","issue":"5","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT.<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    In southeastern Brazil,\n                    <jats:italic>Rickettsia rickettsii<\/jats:italic>\n                    , the agent of Brazilian spotted fever (BSF), is mainly transmitted to humans by\n                    <jats:italic>Amblyomma sculptum<\/jats:italic>\n                    ticks, whose populations are chiefly sustained by capybaras,\n                    <jats:italic>Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris<\/jats:italic>\n                    . As capybaras are sentinel hosts for BSF, serological analysis of capybaras is the most feasible way to determine whether an\n                    <jats:italic>A. sculptum<\/jats:italic>\n                    population is infected with\n                    <jats:italic>R. rickettsii<\/jats:italic>\n                    or not. Because the immature stages of\n                    <jats:italic>A. sculptum<\/jats:italic>\n                    commonly feed on opossums (\n                    <jats:italic>Didelphis<\/jats:italic>\n                    spp.), which are susceptible to\n                    <jats:italic>R. rickettsii<\/jats:italic>\n                    infection, this study aimed to validate the use of opossums (\n                    <jats:italic>Didelphis albiventris<\/jats:italic>\n                    ) as sentinel hosts for active surveillance of the BSF. Between 2017 and 2020, a total of 159 opossums were captured in nine areas of Piracicaba, a BSF-endemic municipality. Ticks and blood were collected from opossums. The ticks were identified at the species level, and the blood was used for serological analysis to detect antibody end-point titers to\n                    <jats:italic>R. rickettsii<\/jats:italic>\n                    and\n                    <jats:italic>Rickettsia bellii<\/jats:italic>\n                    . Area 1a, which had a recent history of BSF, was used as the \u201cpositive control\u201d area, whereas area 1b (devoid of capybaras) was used as the \u201cnegative control\u201d area. Based on the results from these two areas, the remaining seven areas were categorized according to their risk of BSF based on serological results and the presence and abundance of ticks on opossums. The results indicated that two, one, and four areas were at high, low, and intermediate risk of BSF, respectively. This study validated the use of opossums as alternative sentinels for the active surveillance of BSF.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.25-0026","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,16]],"date-time":"2025-09-16T16:58:07Z","timestamp":1758041887000},"page":"966-973","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Revisiting the Role of Opossums (Marsupialia) as Sentinel for Brazilian Spotted Fever Caused by Rickettsia rickettsii"],"prefix":"10.4269","volume":"113","author":[{"given":"Felipe Trevisan","family":"Ortiz","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz, Universidade de S\u00e3o Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Carlos Alberto","family":"Perez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz, Universidade de S\u00e3o Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lina C.","family":"Binder","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculdade de Medicina Veterin\u00e1ria e Zootecnia, Universidade de S\u00e3o Paulo, S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Maria Carolina A.","family":"Serpa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculdade de Medicina Veterin\u00e1ria e Zootecnia, Universidade de S\u00e3o Paulo, S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Andr\u00e9 Pinheiro","family":"Almeida","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz, Universidade de S\u00e3o Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Luis Guilherme","family":"de Queiroz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz, Universidade de S\u00e3o Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Elias Soares","family":"de Figueiredo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz, Universidade de S\u00e3o Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sof\u00eda","family":"Jim\u00e9nez Jorge","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Universidade Estadual Paulista J\u00falio de Mesquita Filho, Jaboticabal, Brazil;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Erica Veiga","family":"de Oliveira Luiz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz, Universidade de S\u00e3o Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ravi","family":"das Neves","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz, Universidade de S\u00e3o Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alan Ferreira","family":"Nunes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz, Universidade de S\u00e3o Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Julia","family":"Dotoli Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz, Universidade de S\u00e3o Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ivan Carlos","family":"Val\u00e9rio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz, Universidade de S\u00e3o Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Carolina","family":"Vitti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Universidade Metodista de Piracicaba, Piracicaba, Brazil;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jo\u00e3o Pedro","family":"Ignez Martin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz, Universidade de S\u00e3o Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Marcus Vinicius","family":"Stenico","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz, Universidade de S\u00e3o Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lina Marcela","family":"Gonzalez Cano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz, Universidade de S\u00e3o Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Thiago F.","family":"Martins","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculdade de Medicina Veterin\u00e1ria e Zootecnia, Universidade de S\u00e3o Paulo, S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil;"},{"name":"Instituto Pasteur, Secretaria de Estado da Sa\u00fade de S\u00e3o Paulo, S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Marianna","family":"Ricciardi Curi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Secretaria Municipal de Defesa do Meio Ambiente, Prefeitura Municipal de Piracicaba, Piracicaba, Brazil;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Helder","family":"Louvandini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura, Universidade de S\u00e3o Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Adriane da Fonseca","family":"Duarte","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul, Mundo Novo, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Odal\u00e9ia Telles Marcondes Machado","family":"Queiroz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz, Universidade de S\u00e3o Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gilberto Jos\u00e9","family":"de Moraes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz, Universidade de S\u00e3o Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Marcelo B.","family":"Labruna","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculdade de Medicina Veterin\u00e1ria e Zootecnia, Universidade de S\u00e3o Paulo, S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"2795","reference":[{"key":"b1","article-title":"Perfil Epidemiol\u00f3gico da Febre Maculosa no Brasil\u20142013 a 2023. 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