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Prevalence and molecular detection of Leishmania spp. in bats from Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil

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Abstract

This study aimed to detect the occurrence of infection by Leishmania spp.in bats from 34 municipalities of Rio Grande do Sul state (RS; southern Brazil) from 2016 to 2021. A total of 109 bats were provided by the Centro Estadual de Vigilância em Saúde of RS, including six species belonged to Molossidae family, six to Vespertilionidae family, and two to Phyllostomidae family. Leishmania spp. was identified using the nested-PCR method by amplifying the SSU rDNA ribosomal subunit gene into four organ pools: (1) the liver, spleen, and lymph node; (2) heart and lungs; (3) skin; and (4) bone marrow of each bat. Three (3/109, 2.7%) animals tested positive for Leishmania spp. The respective PCR-positive organs came from pools 1 and 3. Two bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) were from the municipality of Canoas, and sequences analysis confirms the species identification as Leishmania infantum. In the third bat (Molossus molossus), from Rio Grande, it was not possible to determine the protozoa species, being considered Leishmania spp. Our results indicate that bats can participate in the biological cycle of Leishmania spp. and perform as host, reservoir, and/or source of infection of the protozoa in different areas of RS. More studies will be needed to elucidate the role of these Chiropteras in the circulation of Leishmania spp. This is the first study reporting the occurrence of Leishmania spp. in bats in Rio Grande do Sul state, southern Brazil.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) — financial code 001 and National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for the financial support, the Instituto de Pesquisas Veterinárias Desidério Finamor (IPVDF) for the storage of the samples, and the Centro Estadual de Vigilância em Saúde (CEVS) for consent to use the Chiroptera in this study.

Funding

Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) — financial code 001 and National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for the financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias (LADOPAR), Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva (DMVP), Centro de Ciências Rurais (CCR), Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), Av. Roraima, nº 1000, Prédio 63D, Bairro Camobi, Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, CEP, 97105-900, Brazil

    Fabiana Raquel Ratzlaff, Fagner D’ambroso Fernandes, Vanessa Osmari, Daniele Silva, Jaíne Soares de Paula Vasconcellos, Patrícia Braunig, Fernanda Silveira Flores Vogel, Sônia de Ávila Botton & Luís Antônio Sangioni

  2. Laboratório Central de Diagnóstico Em Patologia Aviária (LCDPA), Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva (DMVP), Centro de Ciências Rurais (CCR), Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), CEP, Av. Roraima, nº 1000, Prédio 44, Bairro Camobi, Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, 97105-900, Brazil

    Helton Fernandes dos Santos

  3. Laboratório de Bacteriologia (LABAC), Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva (DMVP), Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), CEP, Av. Roraima, nº 1000, Prédio 63D, Bairro Camobi, Santa Maria, RS, 97105-900, Brazil

    Juliana Felipetto Cargnelutti

  4. Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva, Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL), CEP, Rodovia Celso Garcia Cid, PR-445, Km 380, Londrina, Paraná, 86057-970, Brazil

    Eloiza Teles Caldart

  5. Centro Estadual de Vigilância Em Saúde (CEVS), Av. Ipiranga, 5400, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, CEP, 90610-000, Brazil

    Aline Campos

  6. Departamento de Engenharia Rural, Centro de Ciências Rurais (CCR), Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), CEP, Av. Roraima, 1000, Bairro Camobi, Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, 97105-900, Brazil

    José Américo de Mello Filho

  7. Laboratório de Protozoologia e Rickettsioses Vetoriais, Faculdade de Veterinária, Universidade de Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul (UFRGS), Av. Bento Gonçalves, 9090, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, CEP, 91540-000, Brazil

    João Fabio Soares

  8. Laboratório de Protozoologia e Rickettsioses Vetoriais, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul (UFRGS), Av. Bento Gonçalves, 9090, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, CEP, 91540-000, Brazil

    Renata Fagundes-Moreira

  9. Divisão de Defesa Sanitária Animal (DDA), Secretaria da Agricultura, Pecuária e Desenvolvimento Rural (SEAPDRA), Av. Getúlio Vargas, 1384, Porto Alegre, CEP, 90150-004, Brazil

    André Alberto Witt

  10. Instituto Sauver — Organização não governamental, R. Dr. Paulo Franco Dos Réis, 40, Boa Vista, Porto Alegre, 90480-090, Brazil

    Susi Missel Pacheco

Authors
  1. Fabiana Raquel Ratzlaff
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  2. Fagner D’ambroso Fernandes
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  3. Vanessa Osmari
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  4. Daniele Silva
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  5. Jaíne Soares de Paula Vasconcellos
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  6. Patrícia Braunig
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  7. Fernanda Silveira Flores Vogel
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  8. Sônia de Ávila Botton
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  9. Helton Fernandes dos Santos
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  10. Juliana Felipetto Cargnelutti
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  11. Eloiza Teles Caldart
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  12. Aline Campos
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  13. José Américo de Mello Filho
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  14. João Fabio Soares
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  15. Renata Fagundes-Moreira
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  16. André Alberto Witt
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  17. Susi Missel Pacheco
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  18. Luís Antônio Sangioni
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Contributions

All authors have read and agree to the final draft of the manuscript. Conceptualization and methodology, FRR, PB, FSFV, SAB, HFS, AC, JFC, and LAS; investigation, FRR, FDF, VO, DS, JSPV, RFM, AAW, SMP, and LAS; writing—original draft preparation, FRR, PB, SAB, HFS, SMP, JFS, JAMF, ETC, and LAS; writing—review and editing, FRR and LAS; and supervision, LAS.

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Correspondence to Fagner D’ambroso Fernandes.

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Ratzlaff, F.R., Fernandes, F.D., Osmari, V. et al. Prevalence and molecular detection of Leishmania spp. in bats from Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. Parasitol Res 121, 3193–3202 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-022-07639-9

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