Cargando…

Diversity of Bartonella and Rickettsia spp. in Bats and Their Blood-Feeding Ectoparasites from South Africa and Swaziland

In addition to several emerging viruses, bats have been reported to host multiple bacteria but their zoonotic threats remain poorly understood, especially in Africa where the diversity of bats is important. Here, we investigated the presence and diversity of Bartonella and Rickettsia spp. in bats an...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Dietrich, Muriel, Tjale, Mabotse A., Weyer, Jacqueline, Kearney, Teresa, Seamark, Ernest C. J., Nel, Louis H., Monadjem, Ara, Markotter, Wanda
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4801393/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26999518
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0152077
_version_ 1782422575330099200
author Dietrich, Muriel
Tjale, Mabotse A.
Weyer, Jacqueline
Kearney, Teresa
Seamark, Ernest C. J.
Nel, Louis H.
Monadjem, Ara
Markotter, Wanda
author_facet Dietrich, Muriel
Tjale, Mabotse A.
Weyer, Jacqueline
Kearney, Teresa
Seamark, Ernest C. J.
Nel, Louis H.
Monadjem, Ara
Markotter, Wanda
author_sort Dietrich, Muriel
collection PubMed
description In addition to several emerging viruses, bats have been reported to host multiple bacteria but their zoonotic threats remain poorly understood, especially in Africa where the diversity of bats is important. Here, we investigated the presence and diversity of Bartonella and Rickettsia spp. in bats and their ectoparasites (Diptera and Siphonaptera) collected across South Africa and Swaziland. We collected 384 blood samples and 14 ectoparasites across 29 different bat species and found positive samples in four insectivorous and two frugivorous bat species, as well as their Nycteribiidae flies. Phylogenetic analyses revealed diverse Bartonella genotypes and one main group of Rickettsia, distinct from those previously reported in bats and their ectoparasites, and for some closely related to human pathogens. Our results suggest a differential pattern of host specificity depending on bat species. Bartonella spp. identified in bat flies and blood were identical supporting that bat flies may serve as vectors. Our results represent the first report of bat-borne Bartonella and Rickettsia spp. in these countries and highlight the potential role of bats as reservoirs of human bacterial pathogens.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-4801393
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2016
publisher Public Library of Science
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-48013932016-03-23 Diversity of Bartonella and Rickettsia spp. in Bats and Their Blood-Feeding Ectoparasites from South Africa and Swaziland Dietrich, Muriel Tjale, Mabotse A. Weyer, Jacqueline Kearney, Teresa Seamark, Ernest C. J. Nel, Louis H. Monadjem, Ara Markotter, Wanda PLoS One Research Article In addition to several emerging viruses, bats have been reported to host multiple bacteria but their zoonotic threats remain poorly understood, especially in Africa where the diversity of bats is important. Here, we investigated the presence and diversity of Bartonella and Rickettsia spp. in bats and their ectoparasites (Diptera and Siphonaptera) collected across South Africa and Swaziland. We collected 384 blood samples and 14 ectoparasites across 29 different bat species and found positive samples in four insectivorous and two frugivorous bat species, as well as their Nycteribiidae flies. Phylogenetic analyses revealed diverse Bartonella genotypes and one main group of Rickettsia, distinct from those previously reported in bats and their ectoparasites, and for some closely related to human pathogens. Our results suggest a differential pattern of host specificity depending on bat species. Bartonella spp. identified in bat flies and blood were identical supporting that bat flies may serve as vectors. Our results represent the first report of bat-borne Bartonella and Rickettsia spp. in these countries and highlight the potential role of bats as reservoirs of human bacterial pathogens. Public Library of Science 2016-03-21 /pmc/articles/PMC4801393/ /pubmed/26999518 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0152077 Text en © 2016 Dietrich et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Dietrich, Muriel
Tjale, Mabotse A.
Weyer, Jacqueline
Kearney, Teresa
Seamark, Ernest C. J.
Nel, Louis H.
Monadjem, Ara
Markotter, Wanda
Diversity of Bartonella and Rickettsia spp. in Bats and Their Blood-Feeding Ectoparasites from South Africa and Swaziland
title Diversity of Bartonella and Rickettsia spp. in Bats and Their Blood-Feeding Ectoparasites from South Africa and Swaziland
title_full Diversity of Bartonella and Rickettsia spp. in Bats and Their Blood-Feeding Ectoparasites from South Africa and Swaziland
title_fullStr Diversity of Bartonella and Rickettsia spp. in Bats and Their Blood-Feeding Ectoparasites from South Africa and Swaziland
title_full_unstemmed Diversity of Bartonella and Rickettsia spp. in Bats and Their Blood-Feeding Ectoparasites from South Africa and Swaziland
title_short Diversity of Bartonella and Rickettsia spp. in Bats and Their Blood-Feeding Ectoparasites from South Africa and Swaziland
title_sort diversity of bartonella and rickettsia spp. in bats and their blood-feeding ectoparasites from south africa and swaziland
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4801393/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26999518
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0152077
work_keys_str_mv AT dietrichmuriel diversityofbartonellaandrickettsiasppinbatsandtheirbloodfeedingectoparasitesfromsouthafricaandswaziland
AT tjalemabotsea diversityofbartonellaandrickettsiasppinbatsandtheirbloodfeedingectoparasitesfromsouthafricaandswaziland
AT weyerjacqueline diversityofbartonellaandrickettsiasppinbatsandtheirbloodfeedingectoparasitesfromsouthafricaandswaziland
AT kearneyteresa diversityofbartonellaandrickettsiasppinbatsandtheirbloodfeedingectoparasitesfromsouthafricaandswaziland
AT seamarkernestcj diversityofbartonellaandrickettsiasppinbatsandtheirbloodfeedingectoparasitesfromsouthafricaandswaziland
AT nellouish diversityofbartonellaandrickettsiasppinbatsandtheirbloodfeedingectoparasitesfromsouthafricaandswaziland
AT monadjemara diversityofbartonellaandrickettsiasppinbatsandtheirbloodfeedingectoparasitesfromsouthafricaandswaziland
AT markotterwanda diversityofbartonellaandrickettsiasppinbatsandtheirbloodfeedingectoparasitesfromsouthafricaandswaziland