Abstract
BackgroundBats are an important ecological group within ecosystems. The rabies virus is a Lyssavirus, and haematophagous bats are the principal reservoir; however, the virus has also been detected in non-haematophagous bats. The objective was to determine the rabies virus in non-haematophagous bats in the Colombian Caribbean region.MethodsIn 2017, a cross-sectional study was carried out with a base-risk sampling in twelve geographic zones of the Colombian Caribbean area that included the main ecosystems of two departments. 286 bats were captured, which were euthanized with a pharmacological treatment following the ethical protocols of animal experimentation. The taxonomic identification was done with dichotomous keys. The necropsy was carried out at the capture site, and brain samples were kept in liquid nitrogen. The extraction of the RNA was carried out from the frozen brains with Trizol™; a fragment of 914 bp of the glycoprotein G of the rabies virus was amplified with RT-PCR. The amplicons were sequenced with the Sanger method.ResultsTwenty-three genera of bats were identified, and, in two frugivorous, Artibeus lituratus and Artibeus planirostris, amplicons were obtained and sequenced as the rabies virus.ConclusionsThis is the first evidence of natural infection of the rabies virus in frugivorous bats in the Colombian Caribbean area; this result is important for the surveillance and control of rabies.
Highlights
Bats are an important ecological group within ecosystems
Amplicons of the glycoprotein G of the rabies virus were detected in two brains of frugivorous bats A. lituratus and A. planirostris, captured in Coloso, Department of Sucre
Four D. rotundus specimens were captured in this study, two in San Carlos, Cordoba and two in Coloso (Sucre), both were negative for the rabies virus with the RT-PCR
Summary
Bats are an important ecological group within ecosystems. The rabies virus is a Lyssavirus, and haematophagous bats are the principal reservoir; the virus has been detected in non-haematophagous bats. The rabies virus belongs to the genus Lyssavirus and produces fatal acute encephalitis in humans [3]. Rabies is distributed on all continents, except Antarctica [3]; once the symptoms appear, the disease is fatal [1]. Bats are an important ecological group in nature because of their ability to control insects, disperse seeds [6] and pollinate [7]. The rabies virus and other Lyssavirus do not appear to cause disease in bats, suggesting co-evolution between the viruses and their hosts [10, 11]; high colony densities of up to 3000 bats per square meter [12] and repeated infections are likely to occur frequently, providing a mechanism for resistance to rabies [13]. Bats can carry a large number of infectious agents, but they do not suffer
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