Leptospira infection in bats in Vietnam

• Published in: Acta tropica Vol. 257; p. 107298
• Main Authors: Radyuk, Ekaterina V., Breneva, Natalia V., Budaeva, Sofia E., Makenov, Marat T., Stukolova, Olga А., Bulanenko, Victoria P., Le, Lan Anh T., Dao, Manh N., Nguyen, Chau V., Bui Thi, Nga T., Luong, Mo T., Nguyen, Tan N., Balakhonov, Sergei V., Karan, Lyudmila S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.09.2024
• Subjects: Bats; ELISA; Leptospira; Microscopic agglutination test; PCR; Bats; Microscopic agglutination test; PCR; Leptospira; ELISA
• ISSN: 0001-706X; 1873-6254; 1873-6254
• DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107298

•Data on the prevalence and species composition of leptospires in bats in Vietnam are currently lacking.•In our work, we screened bats from three provinces of Vietnam using PCR, ELISA and MAT.•In ELISA, the highest seroprevalence was observed in Rousettus leschenaultii species; in PCR, the highest infection rate was detected among Rousettus amplexicaudatus species.•The predominant serogroups in our study were Tarassovi and Mini. Bats from three provinces in Vietnam (Lai Chau, Son La, and Dong Thap) were examined for the presence of pathogenic Leptospira or specific antibodies using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and microscopic agglutination test (MAT). Tissue specimens from 298 bats belonging to 11 species were analyzed using a real-time PCR assay specific for leptospires of pathogenic species. Leptospiral DNA was identified in 40 bats from following species: Rousettus amplexicaudatus (5/9; 55.5 %), Rousettus leschenaultii (17/42; 40.4 %), Myotis hasseltii (8/25; 32 %), Taphozous longimanus (3/12; 25 %), and Eonycteris spelaea (7/32; 21.9 %). Based on secY phylogeny, sequences from M. hasseltii bore a strong resemblance to L. borgpetersenii. Sequences from other species revealed unique lineages: one of them resembled Leptospira sp., previously identified in Rousettus madagascariensis (Madagascar) and Rousettus aegyptiacus (South Africa); the second lineage showed close relation to L. kirshneri; and the third held an intermediary position between L. noguchii and L. interrogans. Through ELISA, anti-Leptospira antibodies were found in 83 of 306 bats, with the highest seroprevalence observed in R. leschenaultii (44/48; 91.6 %), R. amplexicaudatus (6/8; 75 %), and E. spelaea (19/25; 76 %). 66 of these ELISA-positive samples were tested using MAT; 41 of them were confirmed in MAT as positive. The predominant serogroups in our study were Tarassovi and Mini.