TY - JOUR
T1 - Nycteria and Polychromophilus parasite infections of bats in Central Gabon
AU - Rosskopf, Sascha P.
AU - Held, Jana
AU - Gmeiner, Markus
AU - Mordmüller, Benjamin
AU - Matsiegui, Pierre-Blaise
AU - Eckerle, Isabella
AU - Weber, Natalie
AU - Matuschewski, Kai
AU - Schaer, Juliane
PY - 2019/3
Y1 - 2019/3
N2 - Haemosporida are arthropod-borne blood parasites that infect a wide range of vertebrate hosts, including numerous species of bats. Here, we present data of haemosporidian infections in different bat species that were surveyed in Ngounié province, Gabon. We detected Nycteria parasites in Rhinolophus bats and Polychromophilus in Miniopterus minor, a rare and poorly known bat species. Strikingly, no Hepatocystis parasites, which are abundant in epauletted fruit bats elsewhere in Africa, were detected. Our findings suggest that Hepatocystis infections in bats display diverse regional patterns of distribution and transmission dynamics, that cannot be predicted from host abundance. Nycteria parasites are widely distributed in several African rhinolophid species and Polychromophilus parasites of diverse Miniopterus species worldwide belong to the same parasite species.
AB - Haemosporida are arthropod-borne blood parasites that infect a wide range of vertebrate hosts, including numerous species of bats. Here, we present data of haemosporidian infections in different bat species that were surveyed in Ngounié province, Gabon. We detected Nycteria parasites in Rhinolophus bats and Polychromophilus in Miniopterus minor, a rare and poorly known bat species. Strikingly, no Hepatocystis parasites, which are abundant in epauletted fruit bats elsewhere in Africa, were detected. Our findings suggest that Hepatocystis infections in bats display diverse regional patterns of distribution and transmission dynamics, that cannot be predicted from host abundance. Nycteria parasites are widely distributed in several African rhinolophid species and Polychromophilus parasites of diverse Miniopterus species worldwide belong to the same parasite species.
KW - Haemosporida
KW - chiroptera
KW - Hepatocystis
KW - Nycteria
KW - Polychromophilus
KW - Rhinolophidae
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85057875438&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.meegid.2018.11.022
DO - 10.1016/j.meegid.2018.11.022
M3 - Article
C2 - 30508688
VL - 68
SP - 30
EP - 34
JO - Infection, Genetics and Evolution
JF - Infection, Genetics and Evolution
SN - 1567-1348
ER -