Trypanosomatid diversity in a bat community of an urban area in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.

Bats have a long evolutionary history with trypanosomatids, but the role of these flying mammals on parasite transmission cycles in urban areas, especially for Trypanosoma and Leishmania species, remains poorly known. The objective of this study was to evaluate the species richness of trypanosomatids parasitizing a bat community in Campo Grande (CG), a state capital within the Cerrado of the Brazilian Midwest. We evaluated 237 bats of 13 species by means of hemoculture and molecular detection in spleen samples.

The relationships among and phyllostomid bats assessed by histopathological and molecular assays.

Bats have been reported as reservoir host of spp. worldwide, mostly by molecular detection. However, it is still unclear whether bats act as reservoirs of to sandflies vectors.