Natural infection with Trypanosoma cruzi in bats captured in Campeche and Yucatan, Mexico

Introduction: Bats have been reported as hosts of the Trypanosoma cruzi protozoan, the etiologic agent of American trypanosomiasis, an endemic zoonotic disease in Mexico. Objective: To describe T. cruzi infection in bats from the states of Campeche and Yucatan, Mexico. Materials and methods: Captures were made from March to November, 2017, at three sites in Yucatan and one in Campeche. Up to four mist nets on two consecutive nights were used for the capture. The bats' species were identified and euthanasia was performed to collect kidney and heart samples for total DNA extraction. Trypanosoma cruzi infection was detected by conventional PCR with the amplification of a fragment belonging to the T. cruzi DNA nuclear. Results: Eighty-six bats belonging to five families (Vespertilionidae, Noctilionidae, Mormoopidae, Phyllostomidae, and Molossidae) and 13 species (Rhogeessa aeneus, Noctilio leporinus, Pteronotus davyi, P. parnellii, Artibeus jamaicensis, A. lituratus, A. phaeotis, Glossophaga soricina, Carollia sowelli, Chiroderma villosum, Uroderma bilobatum, Stumira parvidens, and Molossus rufus) were captured. Infection frequency by PCR was 30,2% (26/86) detected only in the renal tissue. The infected species were P. parnellii, G. soricina, A. lituratus, A. jamaicensis, S. parvidens, C. villosum, and R. aeneus. Conclusions: Our results confirmed the participation of several bat species as hosts in the T. cruzi transmission cycle in the region. Further studies are necessary to establish the importance of these animals in the zoonotic transmission of T. cruzi.