[Cutaneous leishmaniasis in Amazonia: isolation of Leishmania (Viannia) lainsoni from the rodent Agouti paca (Rodentia: Dasyproctidae), in the state of Pará, Brazil].

The isolation of Leishmania (V.) lainsoni is recorded for the first time from a wild animal, the rodent Agouti paca (Rodentia: Dasyproctidae), from Pará State, north Brazil. Isolates of the parasite were made from apparently normal skin of 3 specimens of this rodent captured on the Island of Tocantins, in the municipality of Tucuruí, an area subsequently flooded in the formation of the lake associated with the Tucuruí hydroelectric dam. No isolations were made from the viscera. Identification of the parasite was in each case based on morphology of the amastigotes and promastigotes, behavior of the organism in hamsters, isoenzymes profiles and the use of monoclonal antibodies. The inapparent nature of the infection leads us to suggest that the "paca", Agouti paca, represents a primitive host of L. (V.) lainsoni in the Amazon Region.