This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Bartonella bacteria prevalent in vampire bats
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Bartonella bacteria — which can cause several human diseases — were discovered in high rates in vampire bats in Peru and Belize, according to findings published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.
“These gram-negative bacteria cause bacteremia and endocarditis in both humans and livestock and exhibit high genetic diversity in bats across multiple continents and species,” Daniel J. Becker, PhD, postdoctoral fellow at Indiana University and previously of Montana State University, and colleagues wrote.
“Vampire bats are of particular concern because they subsist on blood, which could create opportunities for Bartonella transmission to humans and livestock either from bites during blood feeding or through vector sharing facilitated by close proximity.”
One to two times per year in 2015 and 2016, Becker and colleagues collected samples from seven sites in Peru and two sites in Belize to determine the genetic diversity, prevalence of infection across seasons and years, individual risk factors and possible transmission routes of Bartonella in vampire bats.
In an analysis of samples from 193 vampire bats, they discovered a Bartonella prevalence of 67%. According to the study, at least 11 paraphyletic genotypes were revealed during a phylogenetic analysis of 35 samples. Of the 11 delineated genotypes, no association with the geographic study region was found (P = .27). The researchers reported observing no significant phylogenetic clustering by country, but a wide distribution of most vampire bat Bartonella genotypes was noted (P < .001).
Becker and colleagues broke down genotype detection by region and found genotypes one and two across all regions, genotype three was unique to Peruvian regions, genotypes four through six were unique to the western Peruvian Amazon, genotypes seven through 10 were in Belize and Peru and genotype 11 was found only in Belize.
When they reviewed phylogenetic positions, 18 of the 35 of the Peruvian and Belizean Bartonella sequences demonstrated more than a 99.7% identity to Bartonella sequences from vampire bats in Mexico. Similarly, nine out of the 35 sequences were more than 96% identical to Bartonella sequences found in bat flies from Panama, Parnell's mustached bats from Mexico or phytophagous bats in Peru and Guatemala.
According to Becker and colleagues, the odds of Bartonella infection was higher in male vampire bats (OR = 5.41, P < .01) and those with larger forearms (OR = 1.2, P < .001).
Becker and colleagues said the findings showed that Bartonella is genetically diverse, geographically widespread and endemic within vampire bat populations. They suggested that Bartonella exposure via vector-borne transmission, direct contact and environmental sources is likely.
“Controlled infection trials and more extensive phylogenetic analyses of Bartonella in vampire bats, their various ectoparasites, and sympatric prey are therefore needed to examine the contributions of different transmission routes for bacterial spread within vampire bats and to recipient prey and to confirm whether saliva and feces represent viable transmission routes,” they wrote. “Given the high rates of bat bites and proximity to wildlife, humans, and domestic animals that define vampire bat ecology, such efforts to verify the possibility and frequency of oral and environmental exposures would elucidate Bartonella transmission dynamics in this common host species and the risks of cross-species transmission.” – by Marley Ghizzone
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts