Trypanosoma spp. infection in bats captured in urban and wild ecotopes of the Caribbean region in Colombia

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the frequency of infection by Trypanosoma spp. in bats captured in wild and urban ecotopes of the Department of Atlántico in the Caribbean region of Colombia, between March 2021 and May 2022. The bats were taxonomically identified and sex, relative age and reproductive conditions were determined. A blood sample was used for parasitological analysis and DNA extraction in order to amplify a region of the 18S rRNA. The most abundant families among the 125 captured bats were Molossidae (62/125; 49.6%) and Phyllostomidae (43/125; 34.4%). Molossus molossus captured in wild ecotopes showed an infection rate of 8.1% (5/61) and 4.1% (3/61) by parasitological and molecular analysis, respectively. In comparison, Noctilio albiventris captured in urban ecotopes showed an infection rate of 16.6% (2/12) for both analyses. These findings represent the first records of M. molossus harboring Trypanosoma spp. for the Department of Atlántico and N. albiventris harboring Trypanosoma spp. in Colombia.

Keywords

• colombia
• bats
• trypanosoma
• zoonoses