Dados do Trabalho

Título

Sarcocystidae in tissues of bats from the urban area of a municipality in Bahia

Introdução

The environmental changes caused by agricultural expansion, urbanization, and encroachment of natural habitats by humans have increased the contact between wild animals, their parasites, and humans, enabling the circulation of emerging and reemerging zoonotic diseases. 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 animal species and humans.

Objetivo (s)

Therefore, this study aims to investigate the frequency of bats infected with protozoa from the Sarcocystidae family in different tissues

Material e Métodos

The study was submitted and approved by the animal ethics committee. Bats were collected using mist nets and a hand net in the urban area of Feira de Santana, Bahia, in May and July 2021. The animals were euthanized, and samples of muscle, intestine, and pooled liver and spleen were collected, macerated, extracted, and subjected to Sarcocystidae protozoa DNA research using nested-PCR. The EpiInfo 7 software was used for epidemiological analysis.

Resultados e Conclusão

The collected bats were identified at the Zoology Museum of UEFS, representing four different families and five species: Artibeus obscurus n=1 (5.26%), Molossus molossus n=14 (73.68%), Eumops auripendulus n=3 (15.79%), Myots nigricans n=1 (5.26%). All animals were collected in the urban area, and among them, 11 (57.89%; 95% CI: 36.05-76.04) tested positive in nested-PCR. Out of the 57 tissue samples analyzed, 13 (18.57%) showed amplicons compatible with those expected for protozoa from the Sarcocystidae family, with eight (42.11%; 95% CI: 33.50%-79.75%) in the liver, one (5.26%; 95% CI: 0.13%-26.03%) in the intestine, and four (21.05%; 95% CI: 6.05%-45.57%) in the muscle. The variables of species, sex, collection location, and diet did not show a statistically significant association with the presence of Sarcocystidae DNA fragments in the tissues. The frequencies of positives found in this study are higher than those reported in research conducted in other Brazilian states.

Palavras-chave

Quiróptera, Sarcocystidae, molecular detection

Agradecimentos

I would like to thank the UEFS Zoonoses and Public Health Research Group and the funding agencies FAPESB and CNPq for their support.