Diversity of spp., spp. and spp. in vampire bats.

Although bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) act as natural reservoirs for many zoonotic pathogens around the world, few studies have investigated the occurrence of agents in bats, especially vampire bats. The family (order Rickettsiales) encompasses obligate intracellular bacteria of the genera , , , , , and . The present study aimed to investigate, using molecular techniques, the presence of species of , , and in vampire bats sampled in northern Brazil. Between 2017 and 2019, spleen samples were collected from vampire bats belonging to two species, ( 228) from the states of Pará ( = 207), Amazonas ( = 1), Roraima ( = 18) and Amapá ( = 3), and ( = 1) from Pará. Positivity rates of 5.2% (12/229), 3% (7/229), and 10.9% (25/229) were found in PCR assays for spp. (16S rRNA gene), a spp. ( gene) and spp. (16S rRNA gene), respectively. The present study revealed, for the first time, the occurrence of spp. and different genotypes of spp. in vampire bats from Brazil. While phylogenetic analyses based on the and genes of and 16S rRNA of spp. revealed phylogenetic proximity of the genotypes detected in vampire bats with agents associated with domestic ruminants, phylogenetic inferences based on the and genes evidenced the occurrence of genotypes apparently exclusive to bats. sp. phylogenetically associated with was also detected in vampire bats sampled in northern Brazil.