Bats as reservoir hosts of human bacterial pathogen, Bartonella mayotimonensis

A plethora of pathogenic viruses colonize bats. However, bat bacterial flora and its zoonotic threat remain ill defined. In a study initially conducted as a quantitative metagenomic analysis of the fecal bacterial flora of the Daubenton's bat in Finland, we unexpectedly detected DNA of several...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Emerging infectious diseases 2014-06, Vol.20 (6), p.960-967
Main Authors: Veikkolainen, Ville, Vesterinen, Eero J, Lilley, Thomas M, Pulliainen, Arto T
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Animals
Bacteremia - epidemiology
Bacteremia - microbiology
Bacteremia - veterinary
bacteria
Bartonella
Bartonella - classification
Bartonella - genetics
Bartonella - isolation & purification
Bartonella Infections - epidemiology
Bartonella Infections - microbiology
Bartonella Infections - veterinary
bats
Chiroptera - microbiology
Disease Reservoirs
DNA
DNA, Bacterial - genetics
Endocarditis
Feces
Finland - epidemiology
Humans
Metagenome
metagenomics
Multigene Family
Northern Hemisphere
Phylogeny
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Summary:A plethora of pathogenic viruses colonize bats. However, bat bacterial flora and its zoonotic threat remain ill defined. In a study initially conducted as a quantitative metagenomic analysis of the fecal bacterial flora of the Daubenton's bat in Finland, we unexpectedly detected DNA of several hemotrophic and ectoparasite-transmitted bacterial genera, including Bartonella. Bartonella spp. also were either detected or isolated from the peripheral blood of Daubenton's, northern, and whiskered bats and were detected in the ectoparasites of Daubenton's, northern, and Brandt's bats. The blood isolates belong to the Candidatus-status species B. mayotimonensis, a recently identified etiologic agent of endocarditis in humans, and a new Bartonella species (B. naantaliensis sp. nov.). Phylogenetic analysis of bat-colonizing Bartonella spp. throughout the world demonstrates a distinct B. mayotimonensis cluster in the Northern Hemisphere. The findings of this field study highlight bats as potent reservoirs of human bacterial pathogens.
ISSN:1080-6040
1080-6059
DOI:10.3201/eid2006.130956