Pathogenic Leptospira spp. in bats: Molecular investigation in Southern Brazil

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the frequency of pathogenic Leptospira spp. in Brazilian bats and to determine possible risk factors associated to it. Ninety two bats of 12 species were evaluated. Whole genomic DNA from kidneys was extracted and real-time PCR specific to pathogenic Leptospira spp. was applied. Association between the frequency of specimens positive for Leptospira spp. and sex, age, bat species or family, season of collection, geographic localization and feeding habits was evaluated. The results showed that 39.13% of analyzed bats were found positive for Leptospira spp. Nine bat species had at least one positive result. There was no association among the evaluated variables and frequency of pathogenic Leptospira spp. Although the limitations due to lack of Leptospira spp. isolation, leptospiral carriage was demonstrated in bats of different species from southern Brazil, which reinforces the need for surveillance of infectious agents in wild animals.

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

“…(AS) and Glossophaga longirostris (GL). Our findings in these two bat species are in agreement with reports detecting of Leptospira antigen or antibody reported in various countries including Brazil [39], Peru [15,18], and Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago [11]. We found 65% of GL bats were Leptospira PCR-positive, which is approximately eight-fold higher than the seroprevalence rate previously reported for this species of bats from Grenada (8%) [11].…”

“…This species represented 26 of 173 bats trapped and included bats from two of the three trapping years. Leptospira PCR-positive M. molossus have previously been reported at low rates in Brazil (4/19 bats positive; 21%) and Trinidad (5/ 20; 25%) [11,39]. Accordingly, we may have missed finding Leptospira-positive MM bats simply due to the low number of captured MM and possibly low infection rates overall in this species.…”

Bats are a potential reservoir of pathogenic Leptospira species in Colombia

“…Recently, it was shown that bats from Southern Brazil exhibit no associations among the frequency of positive results for pathogenic Leptospira and the age, sex, species, season of collection, location, or feeding habits of the bats [28]; this observation is similar to the results obtained in the present study. However, these results may be related to the number of bats analyzed in the sample used in the present work.…”

“…Moreover, it is estimated that the presence of Leptospira spp. has been detected in approximately 50 species of bats with different feeding habits [14,28]. In this study, Leptospira spp.…”

PathogenicLeptospiraspecies are widely disseminated among small mammals in Atlantic Forest biome

“…Herein, we found an important rate of PCR‐positive animals, around 30%. It is similar to that reported for other Brazilian biomes, as Pampa (Mayer et al., ) or Pantanal (Vieira et al., , ). Similarly, rodents and marsupials from the Peruvian Amazonian forest presented 29% of PCR positivity (Bunnell et al., ).…”