Dados do Trabalho

Título

High Frequency of Sarcocystidae Family Protozoa Infections in Bats: A Spatial and Temporal Study in Northeastern Brazil

Introdução

The study of zoonotic agents in bats has garnered significant interest from the scientific community due to the numerous ecological niches occupied by these animals and the potential for infectious agents from bats to adapt to other species.

Objetivo (s)

This study investigates the frequency of bats infected by protozoa of the Sarcocystidae family in different tissues.

Material e Métodos

The study was approved by the Animal Use Ethics Committee. Bats were captured using mist nets, while others were referred by the Central Public Health Laboratory of Bahia, from May 2019 to February 2023, with samples consisting of animals from municipalities in Bahia and Pernambuco. After euthanasia, samples of muscle, intestine, feces, and pools of liver and spleen were collected and subjected to DNA research of protozoa from the Sarcocystidae family using nested-PCR. EpiInfo 7 software was used for the analysis of epidemiological variables, and spatial-temporal clusters were formed using the spatial scan method for a Bernoulli distribution in SaTScan 10.1. The bats were identified at the Zoology Museum of the State University of Feira de Santana. The bats were classified into four families and 15 species.

Resultados e Conclusão

Of the 239 tissue samples examined, 52 (21.7%; 95% CI: 16.53 – 26.99) were positive in the nPCR, with 21 (33.3%; 95% CI: 21.9 – 46.3) in the liver and spleen pool, 21 (20.0%; 95% CI: 12.8 – 28.9) in feces, eight in muscle (22.8%; 95% CI: 10.4 – 40.1), and two (5.5%; 95% CI: 0.68 – 18.6) in the intestine. Of the 111 animals tested, 43 (38.7%; 95% CI: 29.6 – 48.4) were positive. The animals belonged to the following feeding guilds: carnivorous 4 (3.6%; 95% CI: 0.9 – 8.9), frugivorous 13 (11.7%; 95% CI: 6.4 – 19.1), hematophagous 16 (14.4%; 95% CI: 8.4 – 22.3), insectivorous 64 (57.6%; 95% CI: 48.0 – 67.0), nectarivorous 5 (4.5%; 95% CI: 1.5 – 10.2). There was no association between the presence of Sarcocystidae DNA and the variables of feeding guild, sex, or urban/rural zone. The spatial-temporal analysis of the nPCR results for Sarcocystidae in bats did not find any clusters of results. The frequency of bats infected by protozoa of the Sarcocystidae family found in this study was high compared to other studies, and the sequencing of the obtained fragments is expected to provide relevant information about the genera and species of parasites found.

Palavras Chave

Sarcocistidae protozoa; bats; Spatial Analysis.