Bat Endoparasites: A UK Perspective

Lord, Jennifer; Brooks, Darren R.

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-39333-4_4

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Admittedly, most discussions of bat pathogen tolerance have been limited to Old World fruit bats [7, 8], distinct from the insectivorous bat hosts of B. vesperuginis. Babesia vesperuginis has been identified in bats across Europe [9–11], the Americas [12] and China [13, 14]; such widespread host and geographical ranges suggest, contrary to popular dogma, that infection-associated pathology is unlikely to be severe.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Babesial infection in the Madagascan flying fox, Pteropus rufus É. Geoffroy, 1803

et al. 2019

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BackgroundBabesiae are erythrocytic protozoans, which infect the red blood cells of vertebrate hosts to cause disease. Previous studies have described potentially pathogenic infections of Babesia vesperuginis in insectivorous bats in Europe, the Americas and Asia. To date, no babesial infections have been documented in the bats of Madagascar, or in any frugivorous bat species worldwide.ResultsWe used standard microscopy and conventional PCR to identify babesiae in blood from the endemic Madagascan flying fox (Pteropus rufus). Out of 203 P. rufus individuals captured between November 2013 and January 2016 and screened for erythrocytic parasites, nine adult males (4.43%) were infected with babesiae. Phylogenetic analysis of sequences obtained from positive samples indicates that they cluster in the Babesia microti clade, which typically infect felids, rodents, primates, and canids, but are distinct from B. vesperuginis previously described in bats. Statistical analysis of ecological trends in the data suggests that infections were most commonly observed in the rainy season and in older-age individuals. No pathological effects of infection on the host were documented; age-prevalence patterns indicated susceptible-infectious (SI) transmission dynamics characteristic of a non-immunizing persistent infection.ConclusionsTo our knowledge, this study is the first report of any erythrocytic protozoan infecting Madagascan fruit bats and the first record of a babesial infection in a pteropodid fruit bat globally. Given the extent to which fruit bats have been implicated as reservoirs for emerging human pathogens, any new record of their parasite repertoire and transmission dynamics offers notable insights into our understanding of the ecology of emerging pathogens.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13071-019-3300-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Babesial infection in the Madagascan flying fox, Pteropus rufus É. Geoffroy, 1803

et al. 2019

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“…As a comparison, in the United Kingdom, Lord et al [ 181 , 182 ] noted four trematode species and one trematode identified to genus-level in bats. In Serbia, Horvat et al [ 144 , 145 ] noted a total of seven trematode taxa associated with bats, and only one species in Croatia.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some bat parasites (e.g. bat flies) are known to be disease vectors for their hosts [ 83 , 129 , 181 , 184 , 192 , 261 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bat parasites (Acari, Anoplura, Cestoda, Diptera, Hemiptera, Nematoda, Siphonaptera, Trematoda) in France (1762–2018): a literature review and contribution to a checklist

Léger

2020

Parasite

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This paper is a bibliographical survey of records of bat parasites in France (including Corsica) between 1762 and 2018. In total, 237 scientific publications were analysed. They show that bats are infected with a large diversity of endoparasites and ectoparasites. A total of 113 parasite taxa were identified from 27 host species; in addition, six bats were not identified to the species-level. The helminth fauna of bats comprises three species of Cestoda, 15 of Trematoda, and 13 of Nematoda. Acari parasites include 53 species (in addition to 22 invalid species). Finally, insect parasites comprise 13 species of Diptera (bat flies), 12 of Siphonaptera (fleas), 3 of Hemiptera (bugs), and 1 Anoplura species. Bat taxa reported with parasites were Barbastella barbastellus, Eptesicus serotinus, Hypsugo savii, Miniopterus schreibersii, Myotis bechsteinii, M. blythii, M. capaccinii, M. dasycneme, M. daubentonii, M. emarginatus, M. myotis, M. mystacinus, M. nattereri, M. punicus, Nyctalus lasiopterus, N. leisleri, N. noctula, Pipistrellus kuhlii, P. nathusii, P. pipistrellus, Plecotus auritus, P. austriacus, Rhinolophus euryale, R. ferrumequinum, R. hipposideros, R. mehelyi, Tadarida teniotis, Eptesicus sp., Myotis sp., Pipistrellus sp., Plecotus sp., Rhinolophus sp. and the species complex Pipistrellus pipistrellus/kuhlii/nathusii. As regards E. nilssonii, Vespertilio murinus (Particoloured Bat), M. alcathoe, M. escalerai, P. macrobullaris and P. pygmaeus, no records were found. These published field data originated from 72 of the 96 departments in metropolitan France. The most commonly cited were Ardèche, Ariège, Bouches-du-Rhône, Haute-Savoie, Maine-et-Loire, Moselle, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Pyrénées-Orientales, Sarthe, Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud.

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“…In Europe, research concerning bat trypanosomes was mainly performed in the UK in the early part of the twentieth century (Petrie 1905;Coles 1914) and the 1970s and 80s (Baker et al 1972;Gardner and Molyneux 1988). These classic morphological studies were later followed by molecular research (Lord 2010;Hamilton et al 2012). Knowledge on the presence of bat trypanosomes in the rest of Europe, however, is limited and/or anecdotal.…”

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confidence: 99%

Trypanosomes in Eastern and Central European bats

et al. 2020

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Bats are presumed primary hosts of trypanosomes of the subgenus Schizotrypanum, including the human pathogen Trypanosoma cruzi. As such, research on bat trypanosomes has been focused on South America, where Chagas disease is a serious issue. While the majority of European studies have been performed in the United Kingdom, there is virtually no data available for Eastern and Central parts of Europe. To address this, the present study aims to identify and assess the prevalence and pathogenicity of trypanosomes in bats sampled in the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Poland. Blood collected from 381 adult bats of eight species was tested for presence of trypanosomes using nested polymerase chain reactions. To assess possible impacts of trypanosome parasites on the health status of their hosts, haematological and biochemical analyses were performed for 56 greater mouse-eared bats (Myotis myotis) emerging from hibernacula and 36 females of the same species from summer colonies. The overall prevalence of the two trypanosome species detected (T. dionisii and T. vespertilionis) was 27%, with a significantly higher prevalence in the Czech Republic compared to the other countries studied. Significant differences in bat trypanosome prevalence in different European countries appear to be connected with presence or absence of possible vectors in summer roosts. No impact of trypanosomes on haematology and blood chemistry parameters was detected in Trypanosoma-positive greater mouse-eared bats. Though T. dionisii infection in bats appears asymptomatic, long-term health consequences still need to be studied in greater detail.

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Bat Endoparasites: A UK Perspective

Cited by 10 publications

References 54 publications

Babesial infection in the Madagascan flying fox, Pteropus rufus É. Geoffroy, 1803

Babesial infection in the Madagascan flying fox, Pteropus rufus É. Geoffroy, 1803

Bat parasites (Acari, Anoplura, Cestoda, Diptera, Hemiptera, Nematoda, Siphonaptera, Trematoda) in France (1762–2018): a literature review and contribution to a checklist

Trypanosomes in Eastern and Central European bats

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