Hematologic profile of hematophagous Desmodus rotundus bats before and after experimental infection with rabies virus

Abstract

Introduction: Hematophagous Desmodus rotundus bats play an important role in the rabies lifecycle. This study describes the hematological profi le of these bats before and after experimental infection with rabies virus. Methods: Cells counts were performed in a Neubauer chamber. Results: The average values of erythrocytes and leucocytes counts in blood before experimental infections were 9.97 × 10 6 mm³ and 4.80 × 10³mm³, respectively. Neutrophils represented 69.9% of white blood cells and the lymphocytes represented 26.9%. Following the experimental infections, the average numbers of erythrocytes and leucocytes was 9.43 × 10 6 mm³ and 3.98 × 10³mm³, respectively. Neutrophils represented 40% of white blood cells and the lymphocytes represented 59%. Conclusions: The hematological profi le given in this study can serve as reference values for D. rotundus bats.

Hematological values for free-living great fruit-eating bats, Artibeus lituratus (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae)

“…Although bats can serve as reservoirs for hundreds of pathogens, including deadly zoonotic viruses (Moratelli & Calisher, 2015), hematological profiles are available for a few species (Caire et al, 1981;Davis et al, 1967;Krutzsch & Hughes, 1959;Krutzsch & Wimsatt, 1963;Martinez, 1939aMartinez, , 1939b. In Brazil, in particular, these standard value profiles were better investigated for captive vampire bats, Desmodus rotundus (see Almeida et al, 2002Almeida et al, , 2014Taddei et al, 1991), among a few other species.…”