Detection of pathogenicLeptospiraspecies associated with phyllostomid bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) from Veracruz, Mexico

Abstract

The genus Leptospira encompass 22 species of spirochaetes, with ten pathogenic species that have been recorded in more than 160 mammals worldwide. In the last two decades, the numbers of records of these agents associated with bats have increased exponentially, particularly in America. Although order Chiroptera represents the second most diverse order of mammals in Mexico, and leptospirosis represents a human and veterinary problem in the country, few studies have been conducted to identify potential wildlife reservoirs. The aim of this study was to detect the presence and diversity of Leptospira sp. in communities of bats in an endemic state of leptospirosis in Mexico. During January to September 2016, 81 bats of ten species from three localities of Veracruz, Mexico, were collected with mist nets. Kidney samples were obtained from all specimens. For the detection of Leptospira sp., we amplified several genes using specific primers. Amplicons of the expected size were submitted to sequencing, and sequences recovered were compared with those of reference deposited in GenBank using the BLAST tool. To identify their phylogenetic position, we realized a reconstruction using maximum-likelihood (ML) method. Twenty-five samples from three bat species (Artibeus lituratus, Choeroniscus godmani and Desmodus rotundus) showed the presence of Leptospira DNA. Sequences recovered were close to Leptospira noguchii, Leptospira weilii and Leptospira interrogans. Our results include the first record of Leptospira in bats from Mexico and exhibit a high diversity of these pathogens circulating in the state. Due to the finding of a large number of positive wild animals, it is necessary to implement a surveillance system in populations of the positive bats as well as in related species, in order to understand their role as carriers of this bacterial genus.

Phylogenetic relationships and diversity of bat-associated Leptospira and the histopathological evaluation of these infections in bats from Grenada, West Indies

“…While the negative findings may reflect the small number of AL bats tested, another study that sampled 22 bats of this species also failed to detect any Leptospira positive animals [15]. However, Leptospira PCR-positive AL bats have been reported in at least one study from Mexico (2/8 positive; 25%) [19]. The other bat species that tested Leptospiranegative in our study was Molossus molossus.…”

“…Although serological evidence of bat exposure to Leptospira spp. has been reported from several parts of the world [11][12][13], and molecular detection of infection by PCR has also been documented [14][15][16][17][18][19][20], the role of bats in the epidemiology of zoonotic Leptospira is not well-understood. Leptospira infection has been detected in over 50 bat species belonging to eight of the nine investigated bat families, representing bats from many geographical regions, including both the tropics and subtropics [21].…”

Bats are a potential reservoir of pathogenic Leptospira species in Colombia

“…Interestingly, in the present work, the presence of these bacteria was detected in D. phaeotis and L. silvicolum, in which the presence of Leptospira spp. had not been detected previously in bats from America [14,27]. The tree with the highest log likelihood is shown, and ML bootstrap values greater than 70 are indicated at each node.…”

Molecular epidemiology of Leptospira noguchii reveals important insights into a One Health context

“…Although not frequently reported, strains of L. noguchii have been described infecting a variety of animal hosts, including cattle (Barragan et al, ; Faine et al, ; Hamond et al, ; Martins et al, ; Zarantonelli et al, ), rats (Pellizzaro et al, ; Vieira et al, ) and bats (Ballados‐González et al, ).…”

“…This disease presents a complex and dynamic epidemiology including the relationship between humans, animals and ecosystems, being an excellent example for the ‘One Health’ approach. The Leptospira noguchii species have been reported in different hosts, in both wild (Ballados‐González et al, ) and domestic (Barragan et al, ; Silva et al, , ) animals, mainly in Americas. It has also been described causing disease in humans (Silva et al, ).…”