Genetic diversity, infection prevalence, and possible transmission routes of < i > Bartonella < /i > spp. in vampire bats

by Daniel J. Becker, Laura M. Bergner, Alexandra B. Bentz, Richard J. Orton, Sonia Altizer, Daniel G. StreickerBartonella spp. are globally distributed bacteria that cause endocarditis in humans and domestic animals. Recent work has suggested bats as zoonotic reservoirs of some humanBartonella infections; however, the ecological and spatiotemporal patterns of infection in bats remain largely unknown. Here we studied the genetic diversity, prevalence of infection across seasons and years, individual risk factors, and possible transmission routes ofBartonella in populations of common vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) in Peru and Belize, for which high infection prevalence has previously been reported. Phylogenetic analysis of thegltA gene for a subset of PCR-positive blood samples revealed sequences that were related toBartonella described from vampire bats from Mexico, other Neotropical bat species, and streblid bat flies. Sequences associated with vampire bats clustered significantly by country but commonly spanned Central and South America, implying limited spatial structure. Stable and nonzeroBartonella prevalence between years supported endemic transmission in all sites. The odds ofBartonella infection for individual bats was unrelated to the intensity of bat flies ectoparasitism, but nearly all infected bats were infested, which precluded conclusive assessment of support for vector-borne transmission. While metagenomic sequencing found no strong evidence ofBartonella DNA i...
Source: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases - Category: Tropical Medicine Authors: Source Type: research