Presencia de Bartonella spp en murciélagos no hematófagos en la Reserva Ecológica Taricaya, Puerto Maldonado, Madre de Dios, Perú

The aim of this study was to determine the presence of Bartonella spp in non-hematophagous bats in the Taricaya Ecological Reserve in Puerto Maldonado, Madre de Dios. In total, 62 bats of 16 species were captured using fog nets on 13 non-consecutive new moon nights. Blood samples (30 µl) were collected from the cephalic vein and poured onto Whatman FTA cards. DNA was extracted with a commercial kit and the diagnosis of Bartonella spp was made using the PCR technique, partially amplifying the citrate-synthase gene (gltA). Six bats were positive for the presence of Bartonella spp (9.68%), belonging to the species Carollia perspicillata, Artibeus lituratus, Phyllostomus elongatus and Platyrrhinus infuscus. The most abundant classification group according to the type of feeding was frugivorous (77.4%; 48/62), followed by omnivorous (12.9%; 8/62), where frugivorous species showed 83.3% (5/6) of results. positives. This is the first finding of Bartonella spp in A. lituratus, P. elongatus and P. infuscus.